Only an epic singles final interrupted the relentless dominance of Alyssa Tobita and Punahou in the final round of the Carlsmith Ball/HHSAA State Tennis Championships on Saturday.
Punahou sophomore Kawika Lam outlasted defending champion Marcel Chan of Kamehameha 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6) in a three-hour boys singles final at the Fairmont Orchid Tennis Center in Mauna Lani Resort.
Both players erased match points before Lam ended Chan’s historic high school tennis career.
In 2011, Chan and Roman Kop won Kamehameha’s first boys doubles title in 46 years. Last year, Chan went nearly three hours to capture the Warriors’ first boys singles championship since 1987.
Tobita is also chasing history. The Mililani junior now has three girls singles titles after defeating Punahou sophomore — and offseason doubles partner — Ashley Ishimura 6-1, 6-3.
One more and Tobita will join former Trojan Erin Hoe as the only tennis players in Hawaii high school history to sweep all four titles.
Rusty Komori celebrated his 20th year of coaching Punahou’s boys by helping his team extend its national high school record — for any sport — to 23 consecutive team titles.
He had three of the four finalists this year, with third-seeded Ryan Adachi and McKenna Fujitani beating sixth-seeded Punahou teammates Jon Costales and Dylan Shen 6-4, 7-6 (3) for the doubles title.
The Punahou girls captured their 11th straight team title by a whole five points over ‘Iolani. The Buffanblu won the previous two by a combined five points over the Red Raiders, who won a doubles title Saturday with top-seeded Kara Okazaki and Kristen Poei, 6-3, 7-6 (8) winners over Punahou’s Katie Kim and Dani Young.
Ishimura captured a decisive doubles title for Punahou last year. Her climb to a singles final was crucial this year. She beat Tobita two weeks ago at Pearl Harbor, but could not end her friend’s run at high school history Saturday.
"We are good friends," said Tobita, who teamed with Ishimura to beat three college teams and win last fall’s Oahu Women’s Night Doubles. "I know when we are on the court we both want it, so whatever happens on the court stays on the court. If she won, I would be happy for her too. We both know we want it badly."
Both singles champs won with what Tobita describes as "consistent yet aggressive" styles. Keeping the ball in play was a priority for her and Lam, and both went for winners only when there was a clear opening.
Lam was down a break in the opening set and 2-5 in the final set. He won four straight games, then got ahead in the tiebreaker to beat Chan for the third time this season.
"Kawika grinded out points, dug deep …," said Komori, whose assistant is Kawika’s father, David. "It was a matter of Kawika trying to match Marcel’s mental toughness, his desire to win. For all the complex things great players deal with, this just came down to who hit the last shot in."
A year ago, that’s pretty much what it came to for the girls title in Ikaika Jobe’s coaching debut. This year, Punahou’s teams all won two matches opening day, letting Jobe breathe a bit easier.
"I’m still learning how everything works and dealing with 12 different personalities," the 1999 state singles champ said. "The girls have been very receptive, put a lot of trust in me as a coach. What has really helped is having my assistant coaches (Brent Hunter, Kelly Little and Julia Sandborn) guide me. The team brought energy and my assistants helped me harness that energy."
