Kono advances at women’s amateur

Stephanie Kono parred the first extra hole to win her first-round match with Madeleine Sheils on Wednesday at the 111th U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rhode Island Country Club.

Hawaii’s two other qualifiers, two-time state high school champion Kristina Merkle and 13-year-old Mariel Galdiano, both lost.

Kono, a Punahou graduate heading into her senior year at UCLA, didn’t lead until the final moment against her opponent from Boise, Idaho. Sheils was 2 up through 14 holes. Kono won the next two holes to tie it, but Sheils birdied the par-3 17th to go 1 up.

Kono caught her with par on the 18th and another par on the 19th (No. 1) won it. She plays co-medalist and second-seeded Lydia Ko in this morning’s second round. The 14-year-old was born in Korea and moved to New Zealand eight years ago. She is currently No. 1 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Kono is a three-time All-American at UCLA. She played on the victorious U.S. Curtis Cup team last summer and is a two-time USGA semifinalist.

Galdiano fell to Erynne Lee, from Silverdale, Wash., 6 and 4. The Maryknoll eighth-grader won the second hole with her only birdie and never led again. Merkle, a Moanalua graduate heading into her junior year at Tulsa, fell to Lee Lopez, from Whittier, Calif., 4 and 2.

Central East Maui closes with win

Central East Maui ended its stay in the Little League Baseball West Regional with a 10-4 win over Red Bluff (Northern California) on Wednesday in San Bernardino, Calif.

Central East Maui closed pool play at 1-3 and finished tied for fifth in the regional. The top four teams advanced to Friday’s semifinal round.

Red Bluff (2-2) took a 3-1 lead after the first inning and Central East Maui responded with four runs in the top of the second. The Valley Isle team added five more runs in the sixth to put the game out of reach.

Ka‘o Mindoro went 3-for-3 with an RBI double for Central East Maui. Nawai Kaupe gave up one run on four hits and struck out six in 52⁄3 innings of relief to earn the win.

U.S. volleyball team loses to Serbia

Team USA lost its first chance to win a medal at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Junior World Championship, falling to Serbia 25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 25-13 on Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro.

The team featured four players from Hawaii — setter Micah Christenson, hitters Josh Taylor (10 points) and Taylor Crabb, and libero Henry Cassiday, who collected 17 digs. The U.S. used every player in the match.

"We didn’t obtain our goal of earning a medal, but we played a good tournament," said Crabb, the team captain. "It was a great experience."

Chaminade signs 6-8 forward

The Chaminade basketball team has signed Casey Oldemoppen to join the Silverswords this season.

The 6-foot-8, 210 pound Oldemoppen was a three-year starter at Marin County (Fla.) High School and spent a year at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

"I have known of Casey for a long time and know he has the chance to be a very good player because of his great work ethic," Chaminade coach Eric Bovaird said. "Casey is a 6-8 guy that can play inside and step out and shoot the ball. He has been working very diligently on his physique which will help his overall game."