A lot has gone according to plan this season for Waiakea tennis coach Bill Brilhante.
The Warriors swept the BIIF team titles last week at Holua Tennis Center, and they’ll return to Keauhou on Thursday with three of the four No. 1 seeds at the three-day individual championships. At least one of the draws is more to Brilhante’s liking than a year ago.
If the seeds hold, none of Saturday’s finals will feature a rematch from the regular season.
The lone non-Waiakea top seed is the most established player in the league.
Hawaii Prep junior Ryo Minakata will vie for third consecutive boys singles title in a field in which eight players will receive a bye in the round of 32, including Hilo High junior Luke Hamano, the second seed at the bottom of the bracket.
Minakata holds the highest universal tennis rating – a measure college recruiters pay close attention to – in the BIIF at 12, followed by Hamano (10) and Waiakea junior Maile Brilhante (nine), the top seed in the girls draw.
Should they get that far, one match to watch Friday would be a girls semifinal pitting No. 2 Melani Uyeda of Kealakehe and the Warriors’ Keilyn Kunimoto, the third seed. Uyeda eked out a victory this season against Kunimoto, taking a third-set tiebreak 10-8.
Kunitomo won a doubles titles last season with Alicia Chun, who is a member of the top-seeded girls tandem again, this time with Chloe Teramoto for doubles-rich Waiakea.
Last season, Brilhante thought he had the two best duos on the island, but Teramoto and Miya Yanigisawa had to face Kunitomo and Chun in the semifinals after other coaches successfully argued their duos deserved to be seeded higher after playing No. 1 doubles during the season.
Brilhante’s solution this season was to mix in Maya Atwal and Jade Brilhante, a sophomore and freshman, respectively at No. 1, and the move paid off as the young tandem is seeded second, setting up a possible all-Waiakea final. Yanigisawa and freshman Haley Teramoto are seeded sixth.
“The seedings are favorable but competitive,” Brilhante said. “We’ll have to compete hard if we want to win.”
In boys doubles, Waiakea’s Lucas Chun and Bruin Yomono are seeded No. 1 ahead of two HPA pairings: Hayden Virtue and Ethan Goore, and Zane Willman and Noah Henderson.
Chun and Bruin Yomono helped put the Warriors over the top last weekend in the team final against Ka Makani, but that victory came against a team that included Minakata, who will be on his own this time as he looks to become the BIIF’s first three-time champion since Kealakehe’s Spencer Travalino accomplished the feat in 2012.
Seeds
Boys
1. Ryo Minakata, Hawaii Prep
2. Luke Hamano, Hilo
3. Maika Nucci, Waiakea
4. Noa Roth, Kealakehe
5. Vyas Hale, Kealakehe
6. Jadyn Brown, Konawaena
7. John Chen, Waiakea
8. Sean Frogley, Parker
Girls
1. Maile Brilhante, Waiakea
2. Melanie Uyeda, Kealakehe
3. Keilyn Kunitomo, Waiakea
4. Casydee De Mattos, Hilo
5. Trinity Yamagata, Konawaena
6. Alexandra Peskova, HPA
7. Hana-Lei Ji, Parker
8. Kristen Enos, Waiakea
Boys doubles
1. Lucas Chun/Bruin Yomono, Waiakea
2. Hayden Virtue/Ethan Goore, HPA
3. Zane Willman/Noah Henderson, HPA
4. David Rey Presiados/Christian Actouka, Konawaena
5. Koby Kosaki/Colby Kudo, Waiakea
6. Hunter Tavares/Douglas Ii, Konawaena
7. Caleb Nakano/Conner Yoshimoto, Waiakea
8. Stephen Panoff/Jonathan Okamura, Hilo
Girls doubles
1. Alicia Chun/Chloe Teramoto, Waiakea
2. Maya Atwal/Jade Brilhante, Waiakea
3. Courtney Kikugawa/Jaymie Kunitomo, Konawaena
4. Cami Oyama/Riza Rabanzo, Hilo
5. Kayla Hollister/Megan Abe, HPA
6. Miya Yanigisawa/Haley Teramoto, Waiakea
7. Jade Rivera/Alyssa Okamura, Hilo
8. Megan Baguso/Caileen Teramoto, Konawaena
