With the Big Island Interscholastic Federation spring sports regular season quickly wrapping up, teams from all across the island have been playing hard in hopes of locking up a playoff spot. Read up on some recent matchups and potential playoff scenarios below.
VOLLEYBALL: HILO 3, KS-HAWAI‘I 1
Hilo High got the upper in its heated, season-long rivalry with KS-Hawai‘i — defeating the Warriors 3-1 during Wednesday’s senior night, in front of a packed house at the Hilo HS gym.
The loss ended KSH’s five-win streak, dropped the Warriors to 10-2 and closed out league play with the Vikings 2-1 against KSH.
The Warriors won the first set 25-20, but lost control after that — as Hilo dominated the second set 25-12, and then won the next two 25-21 and 25-20.
Despite the loss, the Warriors put up some impressive stats — as setter Kalena Lainui notched 23 assists, while Kullen Pua and Nainoa Paio made five blocks each.
Now 8-1, Hilo can secure the No. 1 BIIF DI playoff seed if it wins at least two of its three remaining games — all of which will be on the road, twice at Waiakea High and once at Kea‘au High. The first game against Waiakea will be tonight at 6 p.m.
KOHALA 3, PARKER 2
The battle for the No. 4 spot in BIIF Division II took place Wednesday night between Kohala and Parker boys volleyball in Kapaau, with the Cowboys escaping in five sets. With the win, Kohala ended the regular season 7-3 with a punched ticket to the DII playoffs, which begin next week.
The Bulls won the first two sets convincingly — 25-11 and 25-18. But the Cowboys adjusted and never looked back in the remaining three sets, winning 25-22, 25-23 and 15-12.
Now with the important matches just around the corner, Kohala will have to wait until after the weekend to learn who its first-round opponent will be. Despite the loss, Parker still clinched a playoff spot with the fifth-best record in the division at 6-4, and will also have to wait a few days to figure out who it needs to start prepping for.
KA‘U 3, CLA 1
Ka‘u High’s boys volleyball team won its senior night game and closed out its regular season, beating Christian Liberty Academy 3-1 on Wednesday night in Pahala.
Facing elimination from playoff contention, the Canefire fought hard — but the Trojans prevailed to win the first two sets 25-23 and 25-19.
CLA stayed in the game by winning the third set 25-21, but could not repeat its success, as Ka‘u won the fourth set 25-17.
The Canefire fell to 1-8 and was eliminated from the playoff race. However, CLA can still end things happily, as it will host Makua Lani Christian (0-9) for its senior night tonight in Kea‘au.
The Trojans (8-2) cemented their No. 3 BIIF DII standing and playoff berth, confirming their first-round bye. Ka‘u will host its BIIF DII playoff quarterfinal matchup next Saturday (April 27) against the winner of a matchup between the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds — which are currently projected to be Hawaii Prep and Honoka‘a, respectively.
SOFTBALL: KONA 18, KA‘U 12
Thanks to Konawaena’s softball’s 10-run third inning and 18 collective hits, the Wildcats were able to win their offensive shootout with Ka‘u by a score of 18-12 on Wednesday in Kealakekua. The victory also officially punched their ticket to the DII playoffs, which start Tuesday.
Kona third baseman Alexa Tayamen led all batters with three hits, including a grand slam to right field in the green and white’s monstrous third frame. Tayamen also drove in four runs.
Tayamen’s teammates — pitcher Leilani Lebrun-Ward (3), center fielder Aleisha Estranero (2), shortstop Kailey-Ann Apigo (2), first baseman Jerzie Lopez (1), catcher Sunshine Taketa (1) and right fielder Emily Murray (1) — all produced hits for the Wildcats.
Lebrun-Ward also pitched the full seven innings for Kona, striking out nine.
On the Trojans’ side, the team posted just four hits and committed nine errors.
Now with the regular season in the rearview, the Wildcats (3-6) have the No. 4 seed in the DII tournament, and will next play No. 1 KS-Hawai‘i at 3 p.m. Tuesday in Kea‘au in Game 1 of the opening round (semifinals). Ka‘u’s (0-9) season is over after not qualifying for postseason contention.
KEA‘AU 15, PAHOA 5
The Kea‘au High softball team ended its regular season on a high note, routing Pahoa High 15-5 to notch its second win and end a seven-game skid on Wednesday in Puna.
The Cougars (2-7) will have the rest of the week to prepare for the upcoming BIIF DI semifinals — in which they will take on undefeated No. 1 seed Kealakehe High in a three-game series starting Tuesday.
The Daggers fell to 2-6 and dropped from the BIIF DII playoff race. Pahoa still has one more chance to end things with a win — this afternoon against Kohala at Hilo’s Walter Victor park.
BASEBALL: KONA 6, KA‘U 1
Immediately after Konawaena softball’s win over Ka‘u, the baseball team followed suit — beating the Trojans 6-1 to stay in the No. 2 spot of the BIIF Division II standings.
The Wildcats had three hits to Ka‘u’s two. Catcher Maika Akamu, left fielder Kolt Baptista and center fielder Kainoa Lorenzo produced one hit each for Kona.
Kahiau Rivera was the game’s winning pitcher on the mound, going three innings and allowing one run. Teammate Koa Nakagawa earned the save for the Wildcats. The Trojans also went through two pitchers.
Now at 7-2 with a clear distance between Kona and Ka‘u in the second and third spot in the standings, the Wildcats will travel east to conclude regular season play with Hilo at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Vikings’ home field. Ka‘u (5-4) has no regular season games remaining.
Based on the current standings, Kona and Ka‘u will likely face off in the opening-round (semifinals), best-of-three DII playoff series starting 3 p.m. Thursday in Kealakekua.
PAHOA 2, KEA‘AU 0
Pahoa High’s baseball team clinched a berth in the BIIF Division II semifinals as it defeated Kea‘au High 2-0 on Wednesday evening in Kea‘au.
The Daggers moved to 4-5 with just one outing remaining — their final “home” game against Kohala High (0-9) at 3 p.m. today at Hilo’s Walter Victor Baseball Complex. Even if Pahoa loses and falls to 4-6, it will remain in the No. 4 standing because the Daggers defeated No. 5 Honoka‘a High (4-6) in mid-March.
Kea‘au’s short win streak came to an end as the Cougars fell to 2-7. KHS also has one regular season game remaining, an away game on Saturday morning against Hawaii Prep (2-7) in Waimea.
The BIIF’s Division I and II semifinal series will begin next week. For DII, the projected matchups are No. 1 KS-Hawaii versus No. 4 Pahoa and No. 2 Konawaena versus No. 3 Ka‘u.
In DI, the playoff picture shows No. 1 Hilo against No. 4 Kealakehe and No. 2 Waiakea versus No. 3 Kea‘au.
