Punahou captures 26th ILH water polo title
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
At last night's Interscholastic League of Honolulu water polo championship, Punahou proved once again that speed kills — even if it takes awhile.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The fast-breaking Buffanblu patiently played through a low-scoring first half before busting loose in the second to down Iolani, 7-4, at Punahou pool.
Iolani's Tim Brown looked for a shot on goal as Punahou's Kyle Morgan moved in on defense during the first quarter. Brown scored a third-quarter goal, but Punahou defeated Iolani, 7-4, to win the ILH title.
The win gave Punahou its 26th ILH championship in 29 years.
Aviv Grill-Childers led Punahou with four goals. C.J. Smith added two goals and Kyle Morgan had another for the Buffanblu.
Phillip Mendel had two goals to lead Iolani. The Raiders also got one goal each from Luke Oda and Tim Brown.
Iolani kept to its game plan in the first half by playing tough defense and holding the ball on offense to limit the number of possessions.
But Punahou's defense was tough as well and it forced the Raiders to repeatedly dump the ball in the far corners as time expired on the shot clock.
Grill-Childers' goal with 32 seconds left gave Punahou a 2-1 lead after the first quarter.
The Buffanblu controlled the ball in the second quarter but their shots repeatedly missed their mark — or were turned away by the quick hands of Iolani goalie James Street — as both teams went scoreless.
"We felt real good about the way we were playing," said Punahou head coach Ken Smith. "We figured it wasn't going to be a high scoring game but we knew we'd have enough."
The second half looked like more of the same until C.J. Smith stole the ball and fed a streaking Morgan for an one-on-one goal.
Iolani's Brown answered with a skip shot a minute later but Grill-Childers made it 4-2 with a quick turnaround shot with 39 seconds left in the quarter.
"We had a lot of shots at the goal and it was just a matter of when they were going to connect," said Grill-Childers.
Punahou's superior speed was the difference in the fourth as the Buffanblu forced turnovers and created shot opportunities almost at will, while Buffanblu goalie Robbie Field turned back shot after shot, including two at point-blank range a minute into the period.
Punahou's Smith and Iolani's Oda traded goals early in the quarter. Grill-Childers put the Buffanblu up 6-3 with 3:15 left on a lob to the upper left corner of the goal.
Mendel scored Iolani's final goal with 30 seconds left. Grill-Childers responded 15 seconds later with his fourth goal of the night.
"They're a really fast team.," said Raider coach Mark Cornish. "They're also a little bit older than us too and they just used our mistakes against us. If you want to play a fast-paced game, they just love that and they'll jump right on top of you."
After the match, the Buffanblu players used their speed again to catch their coaching staff and deliver them into the pool.
Dripping from head to toe, Ken Smith gave credit to first-year assistant coach Al Lum, who used to coach the school's basketball team, for helping to harness the teams abilities.
"He had some great ideas on how to utilize our speed on offense and defense," Smith said. "There's a lot of similarities between water polo and basketball and he recognized that immediately."
