KEAAU – With Nani Spaar rocketing in penalty shots and Aubrey Carter swarming the perimeter defensively then zipping back to lead breakaways, it would have been natural to sit poolside Saturday and remark on how easy Kamehameha made everything look.
For anyone holding that line of thinking, coach Dan Lyons would like to invite them to jump in the water and try the game for themselves.
“Water polo is never easy,” Lyons said.
What was not hard to see was that the Warriors were on a different level, at this stage of the season, than Hawaii Prep. Kamehameha quickly blew open what figured to be an early season referendum as to how the BIIF elite stack up, racing to a 20-7 victory at Naeole Pool.
No statements were made, Lyons said, though Kamehameha did reach one of its primary objectives: everyone played.
“We were dominant because we did things well,” he said, “not because they didn’t do things well.”
“They are going to get better, we need to keep getting better,” Lyons said. “We always talk about how our practices have to have intensity, and we have to play at a different speed and intensity than everyone else, and if we do that we’ll be good.”
Carter prides herself on playing tenacious defense, and when Ka Makani (3-1) were forced into low-percentage shots or turnovers, she’d rush back to the other end of the pool, sometimes unabated against HPA goalkeeper Katie Kuyper, to lead the counterattack. Carter scored seven goals, while Emma Kanoa, Ocean Akau and Spaar added four apiece. Caley Tadeo-Estrada joined the spree in the third quarter.
“I don’t take any game lightly,” Carter said. “You have to go into every game thinking that you are going to lose so that you prepare for the worst, but then you can get the result that is the greatest.”
It was 5-0 before the midway point of the first quarter, and the Warriors ended any hints of competitiveness with a six-goal spurt to pull ahead 11-2 just before the half.
Still, BIIF titles aren’t awarded in mid-march, and Lyons remembers how fast the tide can turn. In 2017 – the only season Kamehameha failed to win the BIIF title dating back to 2009 – the Warriors beat up Kealakehe twice during the regular season by a combined 30-10 margin, only to lose to the Waveriders in the semifinals.
“That loss always sticks with me,” Carter said. “You have to have the mentality every game to play with the skill-sets that you have.”
HPA’s Chloe Hughes scored four goals against the Warriors (2-0), and earlier Hughes, Nora Healy and Paloma Field each scored twice in a 7-4 victory against Kealakehe.
Coach Greg McKenna called the morning a productive one for Ka Makani and was unfazed by the lopsided result against Kamehameha.
“I think we each have strengths and we each have weaknesses,” he said, “and I think we’re both good and figuring those things out.
“This was a good experience for us.”
After winning the BIIF title in 2017 and earning its second consecutive HHSAA tournament berth, HPA was bumped off by Kealakehe in last season’s BIIF semifinals. Ka Makani are more youth laden than they’ve been in the past, with Healy being the only senior.
“She’s a leader in effort, a leader in practice,” McKenna said. “She’s bringing the intensity. She’s playing both sides. She’s getting roughed up, but she’s tough.”
Field netted two goals against the Warriors, and Gabby Pike had one.
As Kamehameha poured it on in on the second half, leading by as many as 15 goals, Kuyper’s teammates were quick to reassure her.
In a sense, she took one for the team Saturday.
“Here’s one of our weaknesses, we have to get our defense back to give our goalkeeper more support,” McKenna said, “so we don’t have those three-on-(zero) opportunities, where she still was stopping the first shot.
“We’ve got to get back to help her. She had a standout game.”
Also, the Waveriders (2-2) rebounded in the afternoon with a 10-1 victory against Keaau. Kea Kauka scored four goals and Kailey Fediuk tallied three.
Waiakea (2-1) won its second in a row with a 18-1 victory against Konawaena, getting six goals from Korrie Tengan and four more from Ashley Rynkewicz.
The Wildcats (2-1) beat the Cougars for the second consecutive week, 11-6, behind Nikki Demers’ eight-goal barrage. Lexie Prudholm recorded a hat trick for Keaau.