Punahou rallies

The task of beating Kamehameha for a third time in as many meetings was never a given.

For almost two sets, the Warriors were in a third-time’s-the-charm mode, but No. 1 Punahou roared back for a 20-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-15 win on Thursday night at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium.

"Kamehameha played a great match," Punahou coach Rick Tune said. "They had some different guys in different spots, and their passing got a lot better. Our passing wasn’t where we wanted it in the first two sets."

Punahou closed regular-season play at 13-0 in the ILH, bolstered by 33 kills from 6-foot-4 senior Micah Ma’a.

"He’s the best player in the state, no doubt about it. He’s unstoppable," Kamehameha coach Kainoa Downing said. "They tried not to depend on him totally, but when they needed to, they went to him. He’s such a good player."

Kamehameha dropped to 8-3, which means a fairly secure grip on second place — and a first-round bye in the league playoffs — has loosened.

"We’ve got three tough games we have to win to get second place," Downing said. "We play at Maryknoll tomorrow (Friday). That’s a tough turnaround."

Ma’a was as consistent as he could be with eight kills in each of the first three sets. He had nine more in the fourth game. Ten of his smashes came from the back row, three of them roll shots that confounded the Warriors’ resilient defense.

Ma’a added an ace and had two blocks. Punahou outroofed Kamehameha
10-3.

Another tactical weapon was Wil Stanley, who shared setting duties with Todd Gruebner. When Stanley lined up on the right side, he was a major factor. He finished with nine kills along with 30 assists and an ace. Gruebner, equally on point with his hitters, tallied 28 assists as Punahou’s balanced attack was a sight to behold in the final two-plus sets.

"Both of them have embraced their roles. It’s made them resilient. They’ve grown up a lot since last year," Ma’a said.

Rohan Watamull and J.B. Kam chipped in six kills each, and middles Kainoa Quindica and Akahi Troske added five kills apiece.

Kelsey Yogi finished with 20 digs to lead the Buffanblu. He struggled early, but finished strong.

"I was in the wrong mind-set in the first two sets. I was irritated," he said. "Kamehameha’s definitely improved from last time, and they keep improving."

Outside hitter Kahiau Machado led the Warriors with 13 kills and three aces. Middle hitter David Kaaa racked up 11 kills (.684) and added a block. Junior Nainoa Barlan tallied eight kills and middle Kobe Young chipped in seven more.

Kamoku Panee dished out 39 assists and had four kills on smooth dump shots.

Both teams are coming off busy weeks in tournament play. Punahou had matches at its Clash of the Titans over the weekend, then had league matches on Monday and Tuesday.

"It’s nice to get some rest now. A lot of us are banged up," Ma’a said. "About 10 of us were in the training room before the game."

Kamehameha came out firing with precision — just one hitting error in the first game — along with clean passing. There were 12 ties and four lead changes before the home team went on a 7-2 run to break a 16-all tie. Machado had five kills in the first set.

The Warriors led 21-18 in the second set after consecutive hitting errors by the Buffanblu. After a timeout, the visitors got a kill from Quindica, a block by Watamull, a Warriors hitting error and a kill by Watamull. After Kam pushed the ball for an easy point in the right corner, the Buffanblu led 23-21.

Kills by Young and Machado tied the game for Kamehameha, but Punahou got its last two points on another Warrior hitting error and a miss at the net on a joust. That allowed Punahou to tie the match instead of falling behind 2-0.

"We made eight unforced errors in that second set," Downing said. "We’re getting better. We didn’t have those mental errors in the first set, but then we still fall back into that and give up three, four points. You can’t do that against a top team."

Punahou hit .376 and finished with two aces along with eight service errors. Kamehameha hit .273 with five aces, plus six service errors.