In typical fashion, the Punahou Buffanblu aren’t going down without a fight.

The Buffanblu rallied for an 8-7 win over No. 1 Saint Louis last night at Ala Wai Field after trailing 5-1.

Punahou kept its state-tournament hopes alive, improving to 7-5 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. The third-place Buffanblu need to run the table and hope second-place Mid-Pacific falters. MPI defeated Kamehameha last night and improved to 12-3.

“It doesn’t matter. We don’t worry about other teams,” Punahou coach Eric Kadooka said. “It’s taken us this long to play a competitive game for seven innings. We’ve had good pitching all year. We just haven’t had three things together at the same time: pitching, defense and baserunning.”

Punahou, the seven-time defending state champion, has made it a tradition to rally late in the season and catch fire at the state tourney.

Tyler Kanazawa picked up the win in relief of Scott Peters, and sophomore Nathan Higa pitched the final 1 2⁄3 innings for a save.

“We had to make sure we got our off-speed over for strikes, then we had them guessing,” Kanazawa said.

Kanazawa was the losing pitcher on Saturday when Saint Louis won 6-1. Higa gave up two runs in two innings of relief, but was amped to get another shot last night.

“After what happened on Saturday, I was surprised to get in today,” Higa said. “That’s what we talk about in the locker room. We believe in each other.”

“Now he wants the ball,” Kadooka said of Kanazawa. “That’s the big difference.”

Saint Louis came into the game with a 13-0 mark in the ILH and bolted to a 5-1 lead after three innings. The Saints went ahead in the first inning after Tre Haliburton-Goeas doubled and scored on a single by Kaeo Aliviado.

A four-run outburst in the third by the Saints had Punahou reeling. Run-scoring singles by Derek Nakasato and Ka‘ai Tom, and an RBI double by starting pitcher Kalei Contrades helped Saint Louis take a 5-1 lead.

Contrades, who surrendered a triple in the second inning that led to Punahou’s first run, saw his heater and hard-biting breaking pitches lose effectiveness. He nearly got out of the third inning with moderate damage after Michael Suiter scored on a sacrifice fly by Kainoa Harrison.

But with two outs, Soo Bin Kang’s hard ground ball took a wicked hop near first base. Higa scored from second to cut Saint Louis’ lead to 5-3. After RBI singles by Jordan Hirai and Rolenn Himuro, the Buffanblu had a 7-5 lead, and a single by Suiter brought home Himuro for a three-run margin. Contrades gave way to reliever Rico Garcia, who held down the Buffanblu.

The Saints scored twice in the bottom of the fifth after a two-run double to deep right-center by Tom, but Higa took over. He got the final eight outs, allowing just one baserunner on a walk. He went backdoor to strike out Contrades, one of the ILH’s top hitters, in the seventh.

Saint Louis is idle for a week and has an automatic state-tourney berth nearly locked up. Coach George Gusman was annoyed with some fundamental mistakes. One came on Punahou’s delayed double steal in the second inning, when Saint Louis allowed the runner from third to score easily with two outs while another Buffanblu baserunner lured the Crusaders into a rundown.

“Our guys didn’t know the count,” Gusman said.

Kadooka is content to take things one game at a time.

“You beat the No. 1 team, it feels good,” he said.

Scott Peters, Tyler Kanazawa (3), Nathan Higa (5) and Kainoa Harrison; Kalei Contrades, Rico Garcia (4) and Kaeo Aliviado. W–Kanazawa. L–Contrades. S–Higa. Leading hitters–Pun: Rick Nomura 2-4; Higa 3B, 2 runs. StL: Ka’ai Tom 2-3, 2B, 3 RBIs.

No. 4 Mid-Pacific 15, Kamehameha 5
Daniel Fentriss batted 4-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs, and pitched a complete game as the Owls beat the Warriors in five innings.

Fentriss had a two-run homer and RBI single in a 12-run fourth inning, which put the Owls ahead 13-3. Mid-Pacific had 10 hits in the inning.

At Mid-Pacific

Kewby Meyer, Zack Kaohu (4), Damien Toriki (4), Brennan Doane-Alcos (5) and Moku Kukonu; Daniel Fentriss and Dane Fujinaka. W–Fentriss. L–Meyer.
Leading hitters–KS: Meyer 2-2; Kukonu 2B; Alika McGuire 3B. MPI: Nikolas Alarcio 3-5, 2 RBIs; Marcus Doi 2 RBIs; Travis Garcia 2 runs; Cy Higashi 3-4, 2B, 3 runs; Fentriss 4-4, HR, 4 RBIs; Blayne Chang 2B, 2 RBIs; Matt Oda 2-2, 3 runs, 2 RBIs.

OIA WHITE BASEBALL

Waipahu 9, Farrington 5
Drake Yoshioka batted 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs, and Dylan Sugimoto went 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored as the Marauders beat the Governors.

At Waipahu

Paul Reyes and Bryston Doctolero; Jarinn Abreu, Jonathan Igarta (4), Kyle Tsugawa (7), Micah Luke (7) and Tyler Nishino. W–Abreu. L–Reyes.
Leading hitters–Farr: Doctolero 2-3. Waip: Dylan Sugimoto 3-3, 2B, 2 runs; Drake Yoshioka 2-3, 3B, 3 RBIs, 2 runs; Abreu 2-2, 2 RBIs; Igarta 2-2.

Kapolei 15, Aiea 7
Jarin Kadooka and Jared Ragasa each drove in three runs as the Hurricanes wiped out Na Alii.

BIIF BASEBALL

Kamehameha-Hawaii 12, Keaau 1
Kaimana Moike batted 2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs and Taylor Goo went 3-for-4 with a double, three runs and three RBIs as the Warriors beat the Cougars in six innings.

At Keaau

Kupono Correa, Kupono Decker (5) and NA; Melcolm Pacheco and NA. W–Correa. L–Pacheco.
Leading hitters–KSH: Taylor Goo 3-4, 2B, 3 runs, 3 RBIs; Bronson Pulgados 2B, 2 runs; Correa 2 RBIs; Kaimana Moike 2-4, 2B, 4 RBIs; Jayce Carvalho 2 runs. Keaau: Jonny Chow 2-3.

ILH SOFTBALL

Kamehameha 4, No. 2 Mid-Pacific 0
Fahren Glackin pitched a four-hitter with no walks and two strikeouts as the Warriors defeated the Owls.

Misty Hoohuli batted 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Kamehameha.

At Mid-Pacific

Fahren Glackin and Marche Llanos. Keiki Carlos and Kaydi Kochi. W–Glackin. L–Carlos.
Leading hitters–KS: Nohea Keaunui-Gould 2-3; Misty Hoohuli 2-4, 2 RBIs.

No. 4 ‘Iolani 19, Pac-West 0
Kaleen Terayama and Kimberlee Souza had run-scoring doubles, and Alex Masaquel hit a three-run home run as the Raiders batted around in the bottom of the first inning.

At Ala Wai Community Park

Brandy Okimoto, Brittany Suckoll (1) and K. Fleming. Taylor Garcia-Perreira, Ashlyn Yokoyama (4) and Kirstyn Namba. W–Garcia-Perreira. L–Okimoto.
Leading hitters-Iol: Alex Masaquel 2-2, HR, 3 RBIs, 2 runs; Kaleen Terayama 2-3, 2 runs; Marisa Terayama 2-3, 2 RBIs; Lahela Usui 3-4, HR, 3 runs.

Maryknoll 12, Sacred Hearts 0
Bri Guro pitched a two-hitter with five strikeouts, and Jessica Guillermo batted 3-for-3 with six RBIs as the Spartans routed the Lancers in five innings.

At Moiliili Park

Jordyn Waracka, Michelle Uchida (4) and Jordon Nelson, Kasey Lopez (3). Bri Guro and Carol Ann Toyama. W–Guro. L–Waracka.
Leading hitters–Mary: Kori Nishitomi 2-4, 3B, 2 runs; Mieko Okimura 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Toyama 3-3, 3B, 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Jessica Guillermo 3-3, 2B, 3B, 2 runs, 6 RBIs; Heather Kurzenski 2-3, 2B.

OIA SOFTBALL

No. 7 Kapolei 6, Pearl City 1
Winona Pauline pitched a four-hitter and Briana Tovio-Asato batted 2-for-3 with two RBIs as the Hurricanes beat the Chargers.

Mikela Manewa and Dorian Acierto both scored twice for Kapolei.

At Pearl City

Winona Pauline and Briana Tovio-Asato; Sella Rodriguez, Cyndi Rivera (6) and Maya Nagata. W–Pauline. L–Rodriguez.
Leading hitters–Kap: Mikela Manewa 2-4, double, 2 runs; Dorian Acierto 2 runs; Tovio-Asato 2-3, 2 RBIs; Kaity Wills 2B. PC: Nagata 2-4, 2B.