KAILUA-KONA – With a pair of games to play on Saturday, the shorthanded Waveriders needed to start fast if they were to win them both.
Mission accomplished.
Against both Makua Lani in the morning and Laupahoehoe in the afternoon, Kealakehe opened with 12-1 runs to set the tone early. While both games ultimately turned out to be straight-set sweeps for the Waveriders, the visiting Lions and Seasiders had their chances to steal a set.
After two lopsided sets in game No. 1, Makua Lani put together a strong challenge in the third and actually led 12-11 midway through the set. Led by senior outside hitter Teysha-Rey Spinney-Kuahuia, the Waveriders won nine of the next 11 points to seize control of the set. Spinney-Kuahuia closed the door for good, notching kills to secure the final two points of the set to secure the 25-7, 25-12, 25-18 win.
“When you don’t have a complete team, the energy gets really low,” said Kealakehe head coach Jaymie Nield, who had just seven players in uniform for each game. “I think that was a really big part of why we didn’t do as well as we’d hoped we would.”
Spinney-Kuahuia led the Waveriders with 15 kills against the Lions, while Kiersten Peralta recorded a team-high five aces.
In set No. 2 of game No. 2 against Laupahoehoe, the Seasiders led by as many as five points and held a 23-20 lead late.
Kealakehe – missing Spinney-Kuahuia in the second game of the doubleheader – got kills from Lina Husek, Rina Fujitani and Vaiatua Weza, who was brought up from the JV squad for the game, en route to winning six of the final seven points to claim the set. The Waveriders went on to complete the sweep 25-11, 26-14, 25-11.
Fujitani’s performance was particularly impressive to Kealakehe’s head coach; the senior Libero moved to outside hitter for the day, recording 12 kills throughout the two matches.
“She was probably the most consistent player with serving, passing, hitting,” Nield said of Fujitani. “She stepped up. We had to put her in yesterday; she had really last-minute notice. She did really well. I’m really proud of her.”
Husek led the Waveriders with 11 kills against the Seasiders, while Peralta recorded another seven aces.
With the pair of wins Saturday, Kealakehe ups their BIIF record to 5-4. Laupahoehoe falls to 1-10, while Makua Lani stands at 0-7.
Parker def. Laupahoehoe 25-12, 25-15, 25-16
Friday
Hawaii Prep def. Kau 25-19, 25-13, 25-9
Honokaa def. CLA 25-9, 25-15, 25-16
Kamehameha def. Konawaena 25-12, 25-12, 25-12
Football
Honokaa 10, Kohala 7
The host Cowboys gave the undefeated Dragons all they could handle, but Honokaa ultimately emerged victorious in their closest game all season.
The Dragons remain atop the BIIF Division II standings at 6-0, while Kohala drops to 2-4.
Hawaii Prep 20, Kau 14
Ka Makani bounced back from a tough loss a week ago at Honokaa to take down the host Trojans in a tight contest. Kau has now lost three consecutive games by six points or less as they fall to 0-6. Hawaii Prep improves their record to 4-2.
Friday
Hilo 27, Keaau 24
Friday’s victory gives Vikings a two-game lead over the Cougars for the second-place spot in the BIIF Division I race behind undefeated Konawaena.
Kamehameha 49, Pahoa 0
Michael Perry threw four touchdown passes – two to Kekainalu Fuerte – and the Warrior defense recorded their fourth shutout of the season to up their record to 5-1. Pahoa falls to 1-5.
Cross Country
For the fifth week in a row, Kealakehe’s Levi Childers crossed the finish line in first place. The Waverider senior’s time of 17:25.27 edged out Waiakea’s Shane Tominaga by just over two seconds. Childers was joined by four Waveriders placing in the top 10 – Cameron Cornforth in third (18:32.13), Aiden Ankrum in seventh (19:15.03) and Archer Ankrum in ninth (19:26.59) to lead Kealakehe’s boys to a team victory with 34 points. The Waveriders were 24 points ahead of second-place Waiakea.
On the girls’ side, Hilo’s Hulali Halpern returned from a one-week absence to reclaim her spot in first place with a time of 20:53.89, edging out second-place Cozette Wood of Kealakehe by one minute and 12 seconds.
Waiakea had four girls in the top 10 – Shanay Ha’s (22:06.61) in third, Sri Butz (23:50.91) in sixth, Nova Stickley (24:10.55) in eighth and Taarini Godbole (24:53.41) in 10th to take first as a team with 40 points, edging out Hawaii Prep by seven points. Ka Makani were led by Bella Dadzie in fourth place with a finish of 23:09.51.
BIIF runners will head to Pahoa next week for their next race.