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Sports

Punahou seniors continue to rule

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARADVERTISER.COM
Punahou’s Naomi Ng passed the ball over the guard of Kamehameha’s Kiana Yamashiro yesterday.

Punahou seniors LillyBelle Deer, Abby Yosaitis, and twin sisters Brailey and Chauncey Hirose-Hulbert have never lost a game during their six-year career as water polo players on the varsity I and intermediate levels.

Last night, their winning streak continued as they guided Punahou (8-0) to its fourth consecutive Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls title and 13th overall with a 10-5 win over Kamehameha (5-3) in the ILH championship tournament’s title game.

Both teams will advance to the state championship tournament that will be held Wednesday through Saturday on the Big Island, with Punahou most likely the No. 1 seed.

The victory — which Punahou led from start to finish — raised the seniors’ winning streak to 41 at the varsity level, and 61 overall, including their ILH intermediate championship seasons of 2006 and 2007.

If Punahou does take the state title, it will mean the four seniors will have won 64 consecutive games in their six years of play.

“When we were younger, we didn’t think about a winning streak. We just never lost,” said Yosaitis, who scored the game’s first goal and who will attend Colgate and participate in women’s crew. “Now, we just don’t want to lose. We know there’s more pressure on us.”

Brailey Hirose-Hulbert, Punahou’s inside offensive threat who scored three goals in the first half and who will play water polo at UCLA next season, added: “It just feels amazing, and it proves that hard work pays off. (Winning) never gets old. We will be in the pool at 7 a.m. (today) because we know we’re not done.”

The four seniors entered Punahou in kindergarten.

“We are so different,” Brailey Hirose-Hulbert said, “but we complement each other in the right ways. LillyBelle is like the mom; she keeps me in check if I get overzealous. Chauncey is the rock, defensively. Abby, who has really good game-sense, keeps us consistent and grounded.”

“Nobody’s the secret weapon,” said Chauncey Hirose-Hulbert, who will play at Marist, which has one of the top collegiate water polo programs on the East Coast.

Deer, who was recruited to swim at Claremont and who also hopes to play water polo collegiately, said much of the success she and the other seniors have achieved was built on the hard work of the upperclassmen during their early seasons.

“At the beginning, we didn’t do much. Now, it’s really cool to be striving for this (fourth consecutive state championship and career unbeaten mark),” said Deer, who scored the game’s second goal to pace Punahou to a 2-0 lead with 3:31 remaining in the first quarter.

The tradition of helping upperclassmen was on display last night as two standout juniors — goalie Courtney Miller, who had 12 saves, and Sarina Shibata, who had five goals, including Punahou’s last four — credited the seniors for their leadership and mentoring.

“They’ve always led us. Now we’re contributing because of their help,” said Miller.

“It feels good to contribute because last year I mostly sat on the bench,” said Shibata, whose final goal came from about 10 meters out, nearly the equivalent of a half-court shot in basketball.

Kamehameha coach Curt Ai, who was aware of Punahou’s streak, said, “They outswam us, they got position and they capitalized.”

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