For a while, Kian Kurokawa and the mound at Les Murakami Stadium just couldn’t get along.

The junior right-hander struggled with a surface that was much softer than what he was used to back in Hilo’s Wong Stadium. But once he settled in, Kurokawa was on point in a complete-game 5-3 win over Punahou yesterday in the Division I opening round of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Baseball State Championships.

"It feels amazing. It’s Punahou and all the things they accomplished over the years," Kurokawa said. "I was a little bit nervous. By the fourth inning, I started going better. I started hitting my spots, throwing my slider for strikes and feeling more comfortable. The adrenaline was flowing."

Kurokawa also mixed his fastball and change-up effectively, scattering seven hits as the Vikings (14-4) rallied from a 3-2 deficit.

"They’re all good hitters," he said of the Buffanblu. "I knew we were hitting good, I knew we could come back."

It was enough to get past a perennial powerhouse in Punahou, which started junior ace David Torigoe. He went three innings, allowing two runs on five hits. Reliever Cole Kanazawa took the loss as Hilo scored two unearned runs in the sixth.

"In the back of your mind, it’s still Punahou," Hilo coach Tony DeSa said. "Beating Punahou in any sport is an accomplishment. We faced Waiakea all year with their pitchers throwing hard, so our guys had all the confidence in the world."

With the game tied at 3 in the bottom of the sixth, Jodd Carter’s bases-loaded, one-out grounder to short turned into an unassisted fielder’s choice by Beau Branton. Chayce Ka’aua crossed the plate for Hilo’s go-ahead run, and when Branton’s throw to first on a double-play try went astray, Keenan Nishioka scored for a two-run lead.

"It would’ve been a tough play for him to make with Jodd’s speed coming up the line," DeSa said.

With a 5-3 lead, Kurokawa bore down. He walked Rick Nomura with one out in the top of the seventh, but struck out K.J. Harrison and got Zak Muenster to ground into a forceout to end the game.

Punahou (13-5), the third-place team from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, stranded seven runners.

Hilo struck first with a run in the second inning. Tyler Higa-Gonsalves led off with a triple to right and scored on a squeeze bunt by Isaiah Banasan-Vincent.

In the third, Nishioka led off with a bunt single and came home on a single to right by Charles Matson.

In the top of the fourth, Jason Rosen and Nathan Higa singled, then came home on Bradford Chan’s triple to right-center, tying the game at 2. A wild pitch by Kurokawa permitted Chan to score for a 3-2 Buffanblu lead.

Hilo bounced back in the bottom of the fourth when Banasan-Vincent scored from third on a wild pitch by Kanazawa.

Hilo will meet top-seeded Kailua in today’s 7:30 p.m. quarterfinal.