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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, April 29, 2007

Kahuku wins, earns top seed

By Stanley Lee
Advertiser Staff Writer

A coin flip to decide the postseason? No way.

Junior Gina Ahue scored five goals and the Kahuku High School water polo team held on for a 12-10 win over Kapolei in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association regular-season finale at the Brigham Young University-Hawai'i pool yesterday.

Had Kahuku lost, the Red Raiders, Kapolei and Roosevelt would've finished with 11-1 records and a coin flip would've determined the top three seeds for this week's OIA tournament.

Instead, the Red Raiders (12-0) will enter the tournament as the top seed. Kahuku has won all four league titles.

"We've been preparing for this game all week," Ahue said. "Mentally it was on our minds that Kapolei was on Saturday. We've been practicing hard and playing hard because we didn't want to lose. We wanted to go into the OIA championship as the No. 1 seed."

With the game tied 4-4 late in the second quarter, Ahue scored three straight goals to put the Red Raiders ahead for good.

Kahuku led 7-4 at halftime and by as much as 11-7 midway through the fourth quarter.

"I always think that Gina is going to do something special for us," Kahuku coach Aukai Ferguson said. "It's just a matter of when and she's a proven performer since ninth grade. She's one of our most efficient players so I know good things will be happening when she touches the ball."

Nicole Hagi scored back-to-back goals in an 28-second span to close the deficit to 11-9 with 1:11 left in the fourth.

Ahue then scored on a backdoor play to make it 12-9, but Ashlie Salas-Selem scored to cut the deficit to 12-10 with 33 seconds left.

Kapolei got the ball back on a turnover, but couldn't convert, and Kahuku held onto the ball in the final seconds of the game.

Hagi led the Hurricanes (10-2) with six goals.

"She stepped up huge," Kapolei coach Dexter Lee said. "Six goals against the best team in the league, not one of the lower seeds. Kahuku is the best defensive team in the league."

Hagi said she was happy at her team's performance.

"Our team as a whole came together and played really well," Hagi said. "I was really proud of everyone. We played really well."