With its season on the line, No. 7 Punahou didn’t need any extra motivation.

But just in case, senior Nate Higa provided some for teammate Cole Kanazawa.

“When I was walking on deck, (he) told me he’d take me to Fresh Catch and buy me lunch,” Kanazawa said. “I wanted to go up there and get some free lunch.”

Kanazawa will eat well today after his two-run single punctuated a five-run sixth inning as the Buffanblu rallied to beat Kamehameha

9-5 on Tuesday in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu elimination game at Ala Wai Field.

Punahou (6-7), which finished fourth in the ILH regular season, beat Kamehameha (4-9) for the third time in four meetings to advance to the four-team, double-elimination ILH postseason tournament that begins Friday.

The Buffanblu will play at No. 1 Mid-Pacific at 3:30 p.m.

“As long as there is air to breathe, you got chance,” Punahou coach Kenny Harrison said. “That’s kind of how we roll. It’s never easy.”

Kamehameha had Punahou down to its final six outs with a 5-4 lead and ace Keenan Lum on the mound.

Higa was hit by a pitch to start the sixth inning and pinch runner Drew Ogomori scored on a one-out single by Reese Kato to tie the game at 5.

Pinch hitter Jake Fujimoto bunted for a single and Jason Rosen reached on an infield single for his third hit of the game to load the bases.

Punahou took its third different lead on an Aaron Fong sacrifice fly and Lum intentionally walked catcher KJ Harrison to load the bases before reliever Trey Smith replaced him.

Beau Branton hit a soft liner to short that was dropped for Kamehameha’s fifth error of the game, pushing the Punahou lead to 7-5.

Kanazawa followed with a two-run single.

“That’s been our issue a lot this season,” Kamehameha coach Vern Ramie said of the costly error. “It’s nothing new, and it’s not for a lack of effort, but you expect to make those plays and if we do that, the outcome might have been different.”

The lead changed hands four different times as Punahou got out to a 2-0 lead in the first on two sacrifice flies.

Codie Paiva and James DeJesus singled to lead off the third for Kamehameha and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out against Punahou starter Thomas Morris.

Tyler Meditz drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and two throwing errors on stolen-base attempts allowed the Warriors to take a 3-2 lead.

Punahou manufactured two runs off another Kamehameha error in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead.

Trailing 4-3 in the fifth, Kamehameha loaded the bases again with nobody out, forcing the Buffanblu to bring in Dylan Combs from the bullpen.

Combs gave up a sacrifice fly to tie the game and a two-out infield single by pinch hitter William Young gave Kamehameha the lead back at 5-4.

“I left a ball up on the sacrifice fly and didn’t bury a changeup on the ground ball,” Combs said. “After that I made my pitches.”

In the other opening-round game of the ILH tournament, Saint Louis will play ‘Iolani at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Ala Wai Community Park.

At Ala Wai Community Park
Kamehameha (4-9)    003    020    0 — 5     6    5
Punahou          (6-7)    202    005    x — 9     7     3

Keenan Lum, Trey Smith (6) and Kekai Rios. Thomas Morris, Bo Coolen (3), Dylan Combs (5) and KJ Harrison. W—Combs. L—Lum. Leading hitters—Kam: James DeJesus 2-3, 2 runs; Hoku Botelho 1-3, 2b, RBI. Pun: Jason Rosen 3-4, 3 runs.

ILH SOFTBALL

‘Iolani 9, No. 5 Maryknoll 8

After allowing six runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Spartans scored throughout the game but still fell short, losing to the Raiders.

Alex Masaquel led ‘Iolani’s offense with two home runs and drove in four runs.

At Ala Wai Community Park
Maryknoll (12-3)    022    013    0    —    8    11    4
‘Iolani (10-5)            610    100    1    —    9     4     3

Shearyna Labasan and Carolann Toyama. Taylor Garcia-Perreira , Vevesi Liilii (6) ad Cassie Ho. W—Garcia-Perreira. L—Labasan. Leading hitters—Mryk: Shearyna Labasan 3-4, 2b, RBI; Mylee Enos 2-3, run, 2 RBIs. Iol: Alex Masaquel 2-2, 2 HR, 2 runs, 4 RBIs.

No. 2 Punahou 4, St. Francis 0

Jaci Young pitched a no-hitter for the Buffanblu as they shut out the Saints.

At Kamamalu Park
Punahou (10-3)     020    020    0    —    4    14    0
St. Francis (5-9)    000    000    0    —    0      0    0

Jaci Young and Kylie Popovich. Shaye Simms and Kelsie Hee.
W—Jaci Young. L—Shaye Simms. Leading hitters—Pun: Popovich 2-4, 2b, RBI; Young 2-3, runs; Nicole Nishizawa 2-3, RBI; Amber Popovich 2-3, run, RBI; Heaven Wong 3b, RBI; Ari Hashimoto 2-2.

Mid-Pacific 15, WestPac 0

Kayla Au went 2-for-2 with a double and drove in three runs as the Owls defeated the Wolverines.

At Mid-Pacific
WestPac   (0-12)    000    00x    —    0        1    0
Mid-Pacific (9-6)    405     6x    —     15    14    0

D. Ford and S. Poole. Kristi Nagamine, Kayla Au (4), Kaili Akimseu (5) and Nicole Lopez. W—Nagamine. L—Ford.

Leading hitters—MPI: Jenne Kumabe 2-3, 2b; Lindsey Mato 2-3; Sarah Onishi 2-2, 3 runs; Gabi Hollinger 2-4, 2 runs, 2RBIs; Taylor Oda 2b; Taylor Takushi 2b; Au 2-2, 2b, 2 runs , 3 RBIs.

OIA RED PLAYOFFS

Leilehua 7, Waipahu 6

Chenoa Au smacked a walk-off two-run double in the seventh inning as the Mules edged the Marauders.

Leilehua’s Kyla Larson hit a solo home run in the second inning and a three-run homer in the third.

At Kaala Elementary
Waipahu    020    003    1    —    6    3    1
Leilehua    014    000    2    —    7    11    2

AJ Miranda, Laugatausala Pedebone (4) and Shandell Palencia. Taezha-Ann Cordero and Kyla Larson. W—Cordero. L—Miranda.

Leading hitters—Waip: Palencia 2-3, 3b. Lei: Jazmyn Dangaran 3-4, 2 runs; Chenoa Au 2-4, 2 RBIs, 2b; Larson 2-3, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs; Tiffany Abear 2-3, 3b, 2 runs.