Kapolei captures its first team state crown
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
Three-year-old Kapolei High School has its first state team championship, and it fittingly came from a youthful squad.
The Hurricanes, led by individual champion Shaina Carnate, won the Billy Tees/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Girls Bowling title yesterday by slipping past runner-up Baldwin, 7,300 pins to 7,284. The 12-game, two-day tournament was held at Hilo Lanes.
Moanalua, led by individual champion Cy Hiyane, won the boys title with 8,460 points. Waiakea finished second with 8,110.
Kapolei students have won individual state championships, including Samantha Masuda's bowling title last year, but the team trophy is a first.
"It feels great, we're so happy we made history," said Carnate, a junior who scored 1,738 pins to defeat runner-up Malia Baldovi (1,684) of Baldwin. "(Three-time defending champion) Pearl City was behind us (on Thursday), but our coaches said, 'Don't look at anybody else's score.' They said, 'Don't give up now; we've made it this far.' "
Carnate, whose season average was 192, had a high game of 222 yesterday.
Hurricanes sophomore Cherish Saunders, who won the O'ahu Interscholastic Association title two weeks ago, finished fifth yesterday with 1,605 pins.
Masuda, the team's only senior, was tied for 10th place with 1,551. She won last year's championship on Kaua'i just a few days after her father passed away.
"This is just as exciting, to win as a team, because every time since we started bowling we'd always be losing to Pearl City," Masuda said. "We all sat down and said we're tired of being second. We practice all the time, and this had been our goal, so to win this is really amazing. That's what really makes this so special."
Hiyane, a senior who was Hawai'i's lone representative at a national tournament in St. Louis, Mo., last summer, had a score of 1,916 to hold off runner-up Kananiomau Villa (1,871) of Kapolei.
"It's my last year, so I just decided to go for everything," said Hiyane, who averaged 180 in an up-and-down season. "That's what drove me. That, and my teammates. They not only pushed me, but everybody else. That why I was giving it my all."
Teammate Daniel Toyooka-Lim finished 15th, and fellow senior Chris Cordeiro had a high game of 268. Hiyane's high game was 234.
"He also had a 220, but that's how it was — nothing big, he just chipped away," Moanalua coach Geri Mehrtens said. "I'm so happy for him, because it was the perfect time for him to peak. During the season, the pins just wouldn't go down, and sometimes that can wear you down and you start missing more. But he's got mental solidness, and he loves the sport. (This week) the pins fell his way."
When his name was announced as state champion, Hiyane did a cartwheel.
"This is very special for us seniors, because we've been together all four years and have been searching for this title since then," Hiyane said. "We were fired up, and it's a great feeling to finally come through at the end. You couldn't ask for anything better."
Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.
