John John steals the show at pipe

John John Florence continued his dominance at the Volcom Pipeline Pro on Friday, scoring the highest two-wave score of the day in winning his heat.

The North Shore surfer put up a 19.70 score and had two other 9-plus rides in perfect 8- to 10-foot waves as the swell eased back from the roaring 12- to 15-footers in the morning session.

He threaded barrels going Pipe and Backdoor with ease to leave all his competitors in a combination situation needing two scores to overtake him.

Florence, the defending champ, has not lost a heat at this event in the past two years.

“It was firing, wave after wave after wave. It was a pretty special feeling and I think it was one of the better days at Pipe and Backdoor all year.”

Santa Cruz’s Nat Young scored the day’s only perfect 10 and the second of the event. The young goofy foot caught a perfect pipe bomb, set his line and traveled through a deep barrel with two sections on it to come out with the spit.

“That was the best wave I’ve ever had out there,” Young said. “The wave itself was just amazing. I wasn’t paddling in thinking it was going to be a 10. I could hear the beach after I came out, everyone was cheering. It was nice.”

One of the youngest competitors to win his heat was 17-year-old Eala Stewart, originally from town now living on the North Shore. Stewart surfed in one of the morning heats in the huge maxed-out surf.

He showed no fear and sat the deepest of all the competitors in his heat.

“You have to sit deep if you want to make the wave because if you’re on the peak of the wave you’re going (to) get thrown over the falls in the barrel,” Stewart said. “You want to be coming from behind from the barrel into it to make it out.”