Punahou girls favored in first state water polo
By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Most of the teams in the HHSAA/Local Motion Girls State Water Polo Championships don't know a lot about their competition.
SMITH
Not that they care.
For the first time, Hawai'i will be holding a state water polo championship, making it one of three states to do so.
The eight-team tournament begins today, with the championship Saturday at 7 p.m. All games will be held at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
"It's incredible to be a part of it this year," Hawai'i Prep coach Mark Noetzel said. "It's nice that it's finally come to this after two years in a league and not being able to go beyond that."
But two years without a state tournament is nothing compared to the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, which has had league-sanctionedwater polo for eight years.
• WHERE: At Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex, University of Hawai'i. • WHEN: Today—Game 1: Punahou vs. Kalani, 3:15 p.m.; Game 2: Hawai'i Prep vs. Roosevelt, 4:30 p.m.; Game 3: Kahuku vs. Waiakea, 5:45 p.m.; Game 4: Kamehameha vs. Kaiser, 7 p.m. Tomorrow—Game 5: Losers Games 1 and 2, 3:15 p.m.; Game 6: Losers Games 3 and 4, 4:30 p.m.; Semifinal (Winners Games 1 and 2), 5:45 p.m.; Semifinal (Winners Games 3 and 4), 7 p.m. Saturday—Seventh Place, 3:15 p.m.; Fifth Place, 4:30 p.m.; Third Place, 5:45 p.m.; Championship, 7 p.m. • ADMISSION: No admission charge, $3 parking charge.
"I think it's just brought such a new level of excitement," said Punahou coach Ken Smith, whose Buffanblu are the top-seeded team in the tournament. "It gives us something to look forward to after the ILH season."
HHSAA Local Motion Girls State Water Polo
Smith said he hasn't seen the Big Island Interscholastic Federation teams play this season, and knows Kahuku and Roosevelt are fielding solid teams.
Because Punahou has been so dominant in the oldest league in the state, they appear the early favorites to win the inaugural state tournament.
Led by last year's ILH Player of the Year Kamaile Crowell, senior setter Avery Cavanah, junior driver Natale Rigg and junior 2-meter defender Kellen Fletcher, Punahou clinched its eighth straight league championship with a 12-5 win over Kamehameha, the ILH's other representative in the state tournament. But Smith mentioned that earlier in the season, Kamehameha took the Buffanblu into overtime.
"You have to consider the two ILH teams — they've had sanctioned girls water polo the longest," Kahuku coach Aukai Ferguson said. "As far as we're concerned, we're trying to not make it an all-ILH final, and we're trying to be the representative to prevent that."
Kahuku defeated Roosevelt, 8-4, to claim its second O'ahu Interscholastic Association title and second seed in the state tournament.
The Red Raiders are led by 2-meter offense Stephanie Emery, junior goalkeeper Sara Mirels, senior 2-meter offense Keala Whitford, who led the team with 34 goals, and junior 2-meter defender Lacy Luehrs, who had a team-high 39 steals. Ferguson calls Luehrs "a dominant defender. In my opinion, the best defender in the state. She's pretty much why we're successful."
Emery, he said, is "coming off a hot tournament." She scored four goals in the OIA final and three in the semifinal.
He said that Hawai'i Prep could be the dark horse "because no one knows what they're like."
The OIA is also represented by Roosevelt, Kalani and Kaiser.
The OIA and BIIF sanctioned water polo as an official sport last year, bringing the required number of three participating leagues to allow a state tournament.
Hawai'i Prep's Noetzel coached with Smith in the late 1980s on the intermediate and junior varsity levels, and said last year Kamehameha and Punahou flew to Hawai'i Prep to help put on clinics.
"That was instrumental in kicking off the program for us," he said. "We could bring our play up."
Noetzel said he hasn't seen any of the other teams play this year, but is also looking to the ILH teams as the top contenders, with Kahuku challenging.
Hawai'i Prep, the regular-season BIIF champion, defeated Waiakea, 6-3, to clinch the league's top seed and third seed overall. Waiakea, the BIIF tournament champion, also earned a state berth.
Ka Makani is led by senior offensive hole Poloma Vidgen, and Noetzel also mentioned Waiakea sisters Tara and Tamarah Binek as players to watch.
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.
