WAIMEA – Waiakea was dominant, but ultimately fell just short of a BIIF championship sweep at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel.
Kamehameha’s Denby Nagata crashed Waiakea’s party, overcoming the heat and leg cramps in a two and a half hour long championship match to defeat Waiakea’s Jade Brilhante 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
“It made me really be selective on what points I went for so I didn’t waste energy…” said Nagata of playing through the heat. “I just tried to focus on my footwork more. I told myself, ‘There’s one more match, so suck it up.’”
Nagata took control in the decisive third set, upsetting the top seed in the girls singles bracket to claim the championship.
“It felt really good, being my senior year; I’ve been playing tennis for a while, so this felt like the culmination of all those years,” she added. “It was an honor playing for the school. I want to thank my coach Randy Konimoto, my family, my grandparents and everyone who supported me.”
The all-Waiakea girls doubles championship match went as expected, with the top-seeded duo of Kiora Kunimoto and Chloe Takahashi defeating Lisa Miyazaki and Haley Teramoto 6-3, 6-1 to claim the title.
On the boys’ side, Waiakea’s Maika Nucci and Bruin Yomono made quick work of Hilo’s Jonathon Okamura and Jake Tokuuke, in the doubles championship match winning 6-0, 6-0.
While the boys singles champion also came from Waiakea, it was not the top-seeded Paul Brilhante who took home gold; Brilhante’s teammate Iori Furuhata pulled off the 7-6 (2), 6-4 upset.
“I’ve never won against him in practice,” said an excited Furuhata just minutes after receiving the gold medal. “I am so happy I might cry.”
In all, Waiakea led the way with a total of 10 HHSAA State Championship qualifiers:
Kunimoto and Takahashi, Miyazaki and Teramoto, and Jessie Higa and Kate Newell in girls doubles, Brilhante and Jada Igawa in girls singles, Nucci and Yomono, Michael Nakano and Rhys Wilson, and Reyn Funai and Dayne Kunimoto in boys doubles, and Furuhata and Brilhante in boys singles.
Kealakehe was next best with six qualifiers, followed by Hilo with four. Hunter Felte was the top Waverider in the tournament, placing third after defeating Parker’s Kyle Groves 6-4, 6-1 in the third-place match. Joining him at the state tournament will be Keoni Roth in boys singles, Hamilton Jackson and Patrick Overholt, and Raphael Gadot and Eunjin Shin in boys doubles, and Maile-Lei Ji and Kristen Felte in girls singles.
Qualifying from Hilo were Urumi Furuhata and Lilia Icari in girls doubles, Kaylee Yamada in girls singles, Okamura and Tokuuke in boys doubles and Kai Chun in boys singles.
Hawaii Prep and Parker each had a pair of qualifiers: Tiana Edwards and Emilia Tretau (girls doubles) and Edoardo Greco and Zeke Sarosi (boys doubles) for HPA, and Groves and Jacques Montenegro (boys singles) for Parker).
The final qualifier for the state tournament was the doubles duo of Tehani and Wailana Grace from Konawaena.
The HHSAA Tennis Championships are set to begin Thursday, May 5 at Royal Lahaina & Kapalua Tennis Garden on Maui.
