Punahou wins 26th ILH title
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
Punahou continued its water polo dynasty last night by beating Iolani, 12-6, to win the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship.
A crowd of close to 1,000 at Kamehameha Schools pool watched the Buffanblu win their third consecutive ILH championship and their 26th in the last 29 years.
The Buffanblu finished the season at 8-0, including 2-0 during the ILH tournament, while the Raiders finished second at 5-3.
In the third place game, Kamehameha defeated Pac-Five, 11-10, in overtime.
Punahou overwhelmed Iolani with a relentless defense and an opportunistic offense led by senior Forrest Schwartz who scored a team-high four goals.
"Our defense leads to our offense," senior goalie Robby Field said. "We had a lot of counter-attacks. Our defense won the game for us."
Field's solid goalkeeping and Schwartz's hot hand helped Punahou build a 5-1 halftime lead and 7-2 third-quarter lead.
Iolani engineered a furious rally in the fourth quarter scoring four goals, including three by Damon Jones, but the Raiders couldn't overtake the Buffanblu who responded with five goals in the final seven minutes.
Jones finished with a team-high four goals for Iolani.
"I think we came out a little slow," third-year Iolani coach Mark Cornish said. "We couldn't take advantage of our scoring chances. And (Punahou) attacked us right back."
Punahou coach Ken Smith said he was proud of his team's effort, especially during the second half.
"That's been one of our goals to keep the pressure on the whole time," said Smith, who is in his 29th year as head coach. "I think we did a pretty good job."
Smith credited his four seniors — Schwartz, Field, C.J. Smith and Kyle Morgan — for providing leadership this season.
Morgan scored three goals and Smith, the coach's son, scored two goals.
"They're the four amigos," Smith said of the seniors. "They've been inseparable."
The seniors' closeness was one of the keys to the season, Schwartz said.
"We're together all day in the pool," Schwartz said. "I know what they're going to do 10 seconds before they do it."
One of the most exciting plays of the night happened during the second quarter.
Punahou's Billy Brady made a leaping one-handed steal in Buffanblu territory, outraced several Iolani defenders to the goal and scored on a point-blank shot, giving Punahou a 5-1 lead.
Punahou 12, Iolani 6. Goals: Pun--Forrest Schwartz 4, Kyle Morgan 3, C.J. Smith 2, Ikaika Aki, Kaniela Lyman-Mersereau, Billy Brady. Iol--Damon Jones 4, Cale Yamada, Matthew Sullivan.
Kamehameha 11, Pac-Five 10, OT. Goals: Kam--Pat Stachel 4, Keoni Mahelona 3, Kapono Vierra 2, Shawn Kauihou, Evan Laeha. PF--Lance Takenaka 4, Andrew Vallejo Sanderson 2, Sean Aoyagi, Gavin Kitamura, Eric Salassa, Jason Fung.
