KAILUA-KONA — Kamehameha earned its third straight BIIF title with a quick three set victory over Waiakea on Saturday at Kealakehe High School.
The private-school Warriors have controlled their public-school brethren of the same nickname all season long, though not one set ever came easy. That all changed in the league championship match as Kamehameha dominated Waiakea 25-19, 25-19, 25-14 to improve to a perfect 14-0 on the season.
“The kids came to play tonight,” Kamehameha head coach Guy Enriques said. “It was one of our best serving nights and Waiakea couldn’t generate anything with the first ball. We also had some really good defense.”
While Waiakea (11-3) took the loss, the squad did manage to reach the state tournament by beating Kealakehe in the semifinals. With that win, normalcy was restored at the state level.
Since 2005, only once has Kamehameha and Waiakea not shared the honor of representing the BIIF in the HHSAA tournament. That exception came last year when Hilo replaced Waiakea at states.
“We are happy to go to states and we are going to do some damage,” Waiakea coach Ecko Osorio said. “Whoever plays us is going to get a team that is kind of angry right now and they are going to feel it from us.”
While Waiakea looks forward to starting a new streak for state qualification, Kamehameha has been doing what it does best — winning consistently. The team has reached the HHSAA tournament in 12 consecutive years. That streak doesn’t show signs of ending anytime soon.
“This is a young team and our bench is pretty good so our future looks bright,” Enriques said. “We have a pretty decent tradition and it means a lot to us. The run is great, but it is not as important as the growth of the kids and what they have to overcome to play as well as they did today.”
Laeha led Kamehameha with 13 kills, while Carter had a team high three blocks and a 70 percent kill accuracy.
“We all contributed today and if we keep working hard we can take states hopefully,” Laeha said. “This win means everything.”
Kamehameha opened the first set by taking an early 4-1 lead off mostly unforced errors by Waiakea. The private school Warriors went up 8-3 on a serving ace by Kameron Moses. The first set was never in question after that, as four year starter Isaiah Laeha kept Kamehameha in front.
“This was his turn to lead us,” Enriques said. “He had to carry the load despite being injured all year. He has made sacrifices and played through the pain.”
In the second set, junior Chase Carter stepped up his game after Kamehameha fell down 3-0 early. After a ball was hit deep by Waiakea, Carter recorded a cross-court kill and a block to tie the set at 3. He gave his team a lead at 6-5 with a spike right down the middle and then, with set point, Carter crushed the ball down the left line.
“We were not planning on him being in on the offense but once we made a couple of swings we had to go back to him,” Enriques said. “He has been on that bubble of almost being there and today he was there.”
Carter and Laeha continued to roll in the third set. Addison Enriques played well defensively and picked up a few crucial offensive points as Kamehameha went up 11-5 early in the set. Waiakea pulled to within three points, but Kainalu Whitney had two blocks in a row to put the private school Warriors up 14-9. At 17-11, Kamehameha went on a five-point run to put the match away.
