Posted on: Sunday, October 31, 2004
Kahuku, Moanalua girls advance in OIA
| • | East's Kalaheo, Kahuku reach OIA boys final |
By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
One team overcame a nine-point deficit, and the other nearly squandered a 12-point lead, but O'ahu Interscholastic Association East co-champions Kahuku and Moanalua proved there are different ways to reach the championship match.
Moanalua defeated East No. 3 Kalani, 25-22, 20-25, 25-19, and Kahuku defeated West champ 'Aiea, 25-21, 25-18, in the OIA semifinals last night at McKinley.
Kahuku (12-1) plays Moanalua (12-1) Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at McKinley for the championship. Both teams, as well as Kalani (11-3) and 'Aiea (11-1), have qualified for the state tournament.
Moanalua jumped to a 14-2 lead in the first game, led by five kills from senior outside hitter Danie Hout, who finished with 28 kills.
The Falcons chipped away, led by senior outside hitter Tamari Miyashiro, who had seven of her 24 kills in the first game.
Kalani closed to 21-19, but wouldn't get any closer.
"I was surprised," Hout said of the Menehunes' early lead. "But I wasn't surprised they came back."
Kalani coach Aven Lee said coming back to challenge for the first game was a big momentum booster for the team.
"It helped us shift into the second set," she said.
The Falcons dominated the second game. Miyashiro, who was set from almost anywhere on the court, put down 12 kills.
"We went tentative in the second game," Moanalua coach Thomas Lake said. "But I didn't care, win or lose, I just wanted to go down swinging."
His team did that, jumping to leads of 15-7 and 20-11 in the third game, led by Hout's 10 kills.
In the evening's first semifinal, it was Kahuku that rallied from a large deficit, after Na Ali'i jumped to an 11-2 lead in the first game, led by junior outside hitter Lelani Kleman-Maeva's five kills.
"I told them to take a deep breath and let it go, we can start again," Kahuku coach Mona Ah-Hoy said. "The adrenaline was too high and we needed to relax."
Midway through the first game, their deficit appeared to be larger than it was, with two points erroneously added to Aiea's score.
"I just found out about that; I was so disgusted," said Ah-Hoy, who said her scorekeeper was with Kahuku's JV football team.
The Red Raiders went on a 6-0 run to take an 18-17 lead (the scoreboard read 19-18 in 'Aiea's favor), and eventually ended the game with a 5-0 run.
"I think we were playing at such a high level, we made a couple of mistakes and just got down on ourselves," 'Aiea coach Blythe Yamamoto said.
Game 2 was a different story, with Kahuku controlling from the start.
"We started having fun," said Kahuku junior outside hitter Camilla Ah-Hoy, who had a game-high nine kills.
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.
