If Lauren Boyer isn’t the best water polo player in the state, she’s in an elite group.

Boyer, a 6-foot senior, fired in three goals and anchored Punahou’s attack in a 12-2 win over Kamehameha on Thursday night at the Warriors’ pool.

The win pushed the visiting Buffanblu to 4-0, clinching first place in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. That means Punahou, which still has two more regular-season matches, has an automatic berth in the state tournament. The Buffanblu are the five-time defending state champions.

“We had a little layoff. We haven’t played in a couple of weeks and spring break interrupted our routine, so we were a little apprehensive and we know Kamehameha, they’re tough,” Punahou coach Ken Smith said. “We’re just surprised we came out and did as well as we did.”

Kamehameha, celebrating senior night after the battle, fell to 1-4. Smith’s team used a constant flow of fresh players from start to finish.

“We substituted more. We gave our starters more rest and we could go hard for all four quarters. That enabled us to be more aggressive,” Smith added.

Boyer was the catalyst.

“She’s probably one of the best in the state. She’s smooth in the water and just fundamentally sound,” Kamehameha coach Keala O’Sullivan said.

Boyer is basically a water-polo version of a dominant low-post scorer, but her passing skills are a big plus to Punahou’s diversified attack. Seven Buffanblu scored, led by Turner Wong, who had three first-half goals, and Boyer’s three.

“A lot of things go around her. We start a lot of things from her, and if you key on her, other people are open. If you don’t key on her, she’ll score, so you pick your poison,” Smith said. “We have some great outside shooters like Turner Wong, a great floor leader. She sees everything really well.”

In all, the Buffanblu were 12-for-33.

“We know if we get the ball in to her, she can kick it out,” said Wong, who was also a standout player on the basketball court for Punahou.

The physical play was fine with Boyer.

“I like it,” she said. “We came off a game a couple of games ago that we really weren’t happy with,” said Boyer, referring to a 4-3 win over ‘Iolani. “We worked hard during spring break.”

Defensively, they were extremely physical. O’Sullivan complained often to officials about the grabbing away from the ball. Her team finished 2-for-21 on shot attempts.

“They’re well-conditioned, great swimmers. They’re fundamentally sound and aggressive,” the third-year Warriors coach said. “The way I teach our team to play defense is to keep our hands up. We don’t grab.”

Punahou simply controlled the match from the start, getting two goals from Wong, one from Boyer and another from Roxanna Kiessling for a 4-0 lead after one quarter.

“We didn’t play good defense,” O’Sullivan said of the opening stanza. “We were getting beat on every single drive.”

Punahou led 6-0 before Kamehameha got on the scoreboard with a goal by Chelsea Apo midway through the second quarter. Kamehameha’s defense improved by the third quarter — Punahou was just 1-for-8 on shots — but the Buffanblu defense was still rugged.