KEALAKEKUA — It came down to the wire, but second-seeded Hawaii Preparatory Academy girls flag football found a way.
In Wednesday’s Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) semifinal, Ka Makani beat undefeated first seed Hilo 12-0 in a defensive thriller that looked like it was heading for overtime, but HPA’s run game pulled through in the closing minutes to find the end zone.
Ka Makani improved to 7-1, while the Vik Queens fell to 7-1. HPA will play for the first-ever island championship Wednesday at Kamehameha-Hawaii’s campus against Konawaena. While Hilo fell short of the BIIF crown, the Vik Queens still punched their tickets to the state tournament later this month at Mililani and Pearl City High School.
“I am so proud of our girls,” Ka Makani head coach Lauren Prutow-McKenna told West Hawaii Today postgame. “Hilo is a good team with talented players. We were looking forward to playing them, as the hard games make us all stronger as a community.
“It is an honor to play in this historic championship game next week. We believed that we could be here!”
For most of the night, both teams played strong defense against the run and pass. HPA turned to its run game to get its offense going — with sophomore Harley Kaniho and juniors Tae Detwiler, Lehia Aku and Madie Buczyna getting the bulk of the carries through end-around and down-the-middle rushes.
Ka Makani’s defense also made big plays to keep the red and white in the game. Junior Adriana Carrion finished the night with two sacks, including a critical sack of Hilo freshman quarterback Ka‘iulani Kahanu in the red zone in the third quarter. Kahanu had just completed a monster 25-yard throw to freshman receiver Sariah Ka‘apana-Suzui, and Carrion’s stop forced a crucial turnover on downs to stop the Vik Queens from scoring.
In the beginning of the fourth quarter, Kaniho completed a laser pass to Akau to put HPA inside Hilo’s 10. Detwiler then pounded the ball through the middle to score a rushing touchdown, giving Ka Makani the 6-0 lead.
Seven minutes later, HPA marched downfield again — with Akau scoring another rushing touchdown for the red and white. With a 12-0 lead with just two minutes remaining, Ka Makani sealed the deal.
Prutow-McKenna explained that the girls remained composed down the stretch, even when both teams were failing to score for most of the matchup.
“Our girls came in focused and fired up,” she said. “We played like we practice — deliberately with drive, heart, great effort and integrity. Our girls lift each other up and highlight their successess while not letting their mistakes bring them down, carrying their momentum forward.
“Every athlete had beautiful moments in the game contributing to our win.”
Now with a spot in the first-ever flag football island championship, Ka Makani will have its biggest test yet against the Lady Wildcats. HPA’s lone loss came against Kona on April 2, falling 20-13. Nonetheless, the red and white look forward to the challenge — hoping to bring home the first flag football title in Big Island history.
“We are looking forward to playing Konawaena, who plays hard with integrity,” Prutow-McKenna said. “It will be a great game!”
Kona 41, Waiakea 6
In the second semifinal match of the night, first-seeded Konawaena girls flag football remained perfect with a 41-6 beatdown of No. 2 Waiakea, advancing to next week’s title game against HPA. Both teams in the matchup qualified for the state tournament.
The 8-0 Lady Wildcats scored 40 for the fifth time this season, adding to their impressive season average of scoring nearly 36 points per game. Defensively, Kona stayed strong as usual, as it is allowing under five points per game in 2025.
Lady Wildcats junior quarterback Ki‘ilei Leleiwi had another strong showing under center — consistently staying patient in the pocket to find open receivers downfield. Because of this, Kona was able to convert on a number of chunk plays, which exhausted the Lady Warriors’ defense.
In the Wildcats’ opening drive, speedster receiver Kayzia James caught the first touchdown of the night after hauling in a big catch to move the chains a couple of plays prior. The freshman star then caught another touchdown throw from Leleiwi near the end of the opening quarter, extending Kona’s lead to 14-0.
Waiakea quickly responded in the beginning of the second quarter with senior quarterback Kaya Texeira firing a touchdown pass to junior receiver Tauavae Kruse to cut the lead to 14-6, but it was the only points the Lady Warriors could produce for the night.
A few minutes later, Lady Wildcats sophomore running back Nateila Rivera answered with a big catch-and-run touchdown from 50 yards out, followed by her scoring a rushing touchdown on the following drive. Kona went into halftime with a comfortable 27-6 lead.
James scored her third touchdown of the evening at the midway point of the third quarter, catching another Leleiwi throw after a few long pass plays. The final Lady Wildcats’ touchdown of the night came in the fourth quarter, when freshman receiver Kylie Denis caught Leleiwi’s fifth touchdown pass.
Kona junior defensive back Kalei Blas hauled in the game’s only interception near the end of the fourth, claiming the last big play of the game.
“The girls executed really well on both offense and defense,” Wildcats coach Mason Pyper said. “We played complimentary football for all four quarters, and when you’re able to do that, the results take care of itself.
“This win is great for our program. The preparation, focus and effort that the girls give day in and day out at practice is starting to pay off. We ask a lot of them each week, and they rise to the occasion every time they’re faced with challenges. I’m extremely proud to be their coach.”
