KAILUA-KONA — The Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) individual tennis season wrapped up Saturday morning during the boys and girls championships at Holua Racket and Paddle, and there was plenty to celebrate for windward-side competitors, who dominated the contest all week. Championship matches for singles and doubles took place after play began on Thursday and Friday.
Waiakea’s No.1 seed Iori Furuhata took home the boys singles title over No. 3 Kealakehe’s Hunter Felte by scores of 6-2 and 6-3. En route to the title throughout the week, Furuhata beat KS-Hawai‘i’s Damon Nagata (6-0, 6-0) in the semifinals, Hilo’s Raiden Santos-Abalos in the quarterfinals and Konawaena’s Izaiah Estacio in the round of 16 (6-0, 6-0). Furuhata received a bye in the opening round.
Waiakea’s sibling duo of No. 1 seed Dayne Kunimoto and Kaiden Kunimoto took the crown in the boys doubles title, beating No. 2 Kealakehe’s pair of Keoni Roth and Parker Felte in two sets — 6-2 and 7-5. The Kunimoto brothers dominated their way to the podium finish, beating Hilo’s Drew Nakamura and Aidan Carvalho-Fukunaga in the semifinal round (6-0, 6-0), Konawaena’s Caiden Mireles and Makana Sanders in the quarterfinals (6-0, 6-0) and Hilo’s Eli Yamaki and Caiden Alip in the round of 16 (6-0, 6-0). The pair had a first-round bye due to high seeding.
Over in the girls bracket, No. 1 seed Kiora Kunimoto of Waiakea won the girls singles competition over No. 2 seed Maile-Lei Ji of Kealakehe (6-1, 6-2). Kunimoto beat Hilo’s Urumi Furuhata in the semifinals (6-0, 6-0), Kealakehe’s Momoka Ioh in the quarterfinals (6-0, 6-1), Parker’s Takarrah Presley in the round of 16 (6-0, 6-0) and Makua Lani’s Siu Jeong (6-0, 6-0) in the round of 32. Kunimoto received a bye in the round of 64.
In girls doubles, Waiakea won once again, as No. 1 seed Jada Igawa and Chloe Takahashi beat teammates Kaiya Ideta and Annika Nishida — a No. 3 seed pairing — in the title match. Igawa and Takahashi’s journey to the championship stage consisted of beating Kona’s Grace Wailana and Ka‘ilikea Kahalioumi Taketa in the semifinals (6-1, 6-0), Hawaii Prep’s Danica DiDonato and Elsie Lei in the quarterfinals (6-0, 6-0) and Konawaena’s Nohea Camacho and Shanelle Ramos in the round of 16 (6-0, 6-0). The pair received a bye in the round of 32.
With the individual competition now in the rear view, the BIIF team championships will begin 3 p.m. Wednesday for semifinals matches between the top four seeds, followed by the final rounds at 10 a.m. Saturday. The higher seeds will host each match.
Following the conclusion of the BIIF season this week, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) Island Insurance Tennis Championships will take place May 9-11 at Central Oahu Regional Park in Honolulu.
