Punahou wins 33nd ILH boys tennis title in row

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Punahou School boys tennis dynasty will live for another year, at least.

The Buffanblu won their 33rd consecutive Interscholastic League of Honolulu team championship yesterday by sweeping Iolani, 5-0, at Kamehameha. The winner-take-all playoff was necessitated after each team finished 13-1 in the regular season.

Iolani won the first-round meeting, 3-2, with Punahou rebounding to win in the second round, 4-1. Each team won on its home court.

But yesterday, it was all Buffanblu as they won both singles matches and all three doubles matches in straight sets.

"We definitely talked about (the streak), because Punahou has a tradition of excellence and we're trying to fulfill that tradition and live up to it," said junior Mikey Lim, who won his

No. 1 singles match against Torin Ching, 6-3, 6-1, yesterday. "We definitely felt a lot of pressure after we lost in the first round, but we came back in the second round and we wanted to keep the tradition alive today."

In the No. 2 singles match, freshman Alex Ching defeated Dan Adachi, 6-2, 7-5. In the doubles competition, Jon Wong and Eric Shono defeated Mike Okai and Eric Cunningham, 6-2, 6-3; Skyler Tateishi and Erik Shoji defeated Jon Okada and Marcus Pearman, 6-1, 6-4; and Andrew Mau and Will Grosswendt defeated Tom Robillard and Braxton Sato, 6-3, 6-2.

"They were just too strong today," Raiders coach Mike Burger said. "That's probably the best they've played all year."

Buffanblu coach Rusty Komori said a couple of his players were absent for their loss to Iolani earlier in the season.

"That hurt our combinations and it hurt our depth," said Komori, who has coached the past 12 championship teams. "But in the second round we got those guys back, and today we had the entire team again."

Alex Ching was especially impressive in holding off Adachi in the day's final match.

"He's only a freshman, and he beat one of the top players in the state in straight sets," Komori said. "He listened to his coaches and executed well."

With Lim, Ching and others back next year, Punahou has a strong foundation to add to the streak.

"We're still a younger team, with only three seniors," Komori said. "The younger guys are learning the tradition we have."

Lim, for one, is learning it from older brother Robbie, a two-time state champion from Punahou who now plays at Dartmouth.

"Yesterday he called me up and basically told me we have what it takes to win again — we just have to take care of business," Lim said. "It starts from the coaching staff, and then the players. We all love the game."

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.