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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, April 9, 2009

Punahou girls win ILH title, 10-8

Photo gallery: Kamehameha vs Punahou water polo

By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Punahou's Shayna Price, left, and Kamehameha's Kalei Kina battle for possession at the Punahou School pool.

REBECCA BREYER | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Senior Aisha Price is the main weapon for the Punahou girls water polo team.

She proved it last night against Kamehameha with her scoring ability.

But in crunch time, the host Buffanblu relied on two other players to pull out a 10-8 victory over Kamehameha, which clinched the Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular-season title.

"We're happy we're in the state tournament, but the work isn't over yet," said Price, who scored four goals. "We still have a lot more to go, a lot more practices left. We just want to give it our best and end on a high note."

Ashley Feria scored the go-ahead goal for Punahou with 4:30 left, and Marlie Long added an insurance goal on a power play with 1:49 remaining.

It was the only goal for each.

"They both have improved a lot on their offense," Punahou coach Ken Smith said. "We have a lot of different weapons. Now we're getting a lot of people to score. In one game we had 11 different people score. They get the ball, they're expected to score."

Punahou (6-0) qualified for the state tournament. 'Iolani (4-2) is second and Kamehameha (2-4) is third.

"We showed Punahou we can play with them," said Kamehameha co-head coach Brittany Kamai.

There were six ties in the match and Punahou's largest lead was two.

Shayna Price, Aisha's younger sister, and Brailey Hirose-Hubert each scored twice for the Buffanblu. Shayna, a junior, had three assists, including two to her sister.

"She's my best friend," Aisha said of her sister. "It's an absolute blast. This team, we're all sisters."

Aisha Price scored three goals over the first 9:13 of the match, and added another late in the third period.

"I couldn't have scored any of those goals without my teammates," she said. "It was a really big team effort and they just helped me. We push each other and work really hard at practice and it just showed today in the game."

The Warriors trailed 6-5 at halftime with three of their goals coming on lobs over the Buffanblu goalie.

"That's one shot they like to use that is really hard to defend," Smith said. "We need to do a better job putting pressure on the shooters."

Kamehameha freshman Britney Garrigan scored four goals, and Nanea Fujiyama added two.

"Her first game she was completely scared to play," Kamai said of Garrigan. "As the season progressed, she has gained confidence in herself."

The Warriors, who saw four shots go off the post in the second half, tied it 8-8 on Garrigan's power-play goal with 6:28 remaining.

But Buffanblu goalie Courtney Miller closed the door, while Feria and Long broke through.

"One of our goals is we just keep working hard, trying to wear teams out a little bit," Smith said. "If we wear them down, then we can have stuff later in the game. Maybe that was the difference with the two goals in the fourth quarter."

The ILH has two berths in the state tournament.

If Punahou wins the league tournament in two weeks, it will be the ILH's overall champion. If another team wins the tournament, that team will play the Buffanblu for the overall league title.

KAMEHAMEHA (2-4) 2 3 2 0— 8

PUNAHOU (6-0) 3 3 2 2—10

Goal scorers—KS: Britney Garrigan 4, Nanea Fujiyama 2, Kehau A'i 1, Kelia Parilla 1. Pun: Aisha Price 4, Shayna Price 2, Brailey Hirose-Hubert 2, Ashley Feria 1, Marlie Long 1. Goal saves—KS: Chloe Shaw 11. Pun: Courtney Miller 6.

GIRLS VARSITY DIVISION II

Punahou 11, Kamehameha 1.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.