Nothing seemed to be going right for the Kamehameha-Hawaii Warriors in the 24 hours entering a huge semifinal showdown at Moanalua.
Five players, including outside hitter Emmett Enriques, were disciplined for breaking a team rule. When game time came on Friday night, they all sat the opening set as Moanalua rolled to a fairly easy win in the frame.
But Enriques and the second-seeded Warriors regained their mojo quickly, rallying for a 17-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 victory over the third-seeded Na Menehune before a rollicking, near-capacity crowd at Moanalua’s gym.
Enriques led KS-Hawaii (17-0) with 20 kills and three blocks, including 10 kills in the pivotal third set, when the Warriors took the lead.
"Honestly, I thought we could do it without me," he said.
All was forgiven by game time.
"He was carrying a big burden. He was hoping whatever happened wouldn’t take away from what we could be. He put his absolute best foot forward," coach Guy Enriques said about Emmett, his second-oldest son. "And Isaiah Laeha played great."
Laeha, a 5-foot-10 junior, was clutch, stepping up for 17 kills and one of his team’s two aces. In all, the Warriors were sharp and skilled most of the night, hitting .383 against one of the state’s top defenses. Twins Addison Enriques (32 assists) and Avery Enriques (11) combined for 43 dishes.
"We lost our No. 1 middle to injury and our other middle to discipline, and our outside guy (Emmett), then we had one senior and the rest sophomores and juniors," coach Enriques said. "I give my hat off to this team. They stayed positive and pulled through."
Austin Matautia paced OIA champion Moanalua (15-1) with 19 kills and one ace. Karson Cruz tallied 13 kills and three blocks. Seyj Engleman chipped in eight kills and an ace. Noah Marasco-Ayau had 29 assists and one block, and Zachary Kagehiro dished 15 assists.
Despite their ability to overcome the pre-match adversity, coach Enriques thinks the Warriors have a better match in them.
"We didn’t serve well tonight," he said, noting 15 service errors. "We hit our target, but it wasn’t real tough."
The opening set was locked up in a one-point margin until 10-10, when Moanalua ran off four points in a row. Engleman had three kills to lead Na Menehune, who took advantage of five service errors by the Warriors.
Avery Enriques, filling in for his older brother Emmett at outside hitter, returned to setting duties and the dynamic of the Warrior attack changed.
"He gives us a big blocker," Addison Enriques said of Emmett.
Laeha came through with seven kills in the second game as KS-Hawaii tied the match. Then came Emmett Enriques’ dominance in the third set.
In the fourth, KS-Hawaii led 24-19 before Moanalua rallied with four points in a row. Emmett Enriques put the match away with a clean cross-court kill from the left.
Punahou 3, King Kekaulike 0
Micah Ma‘a had 12 kills and a block as the top-seeded Buffanblu (17-0) cruised past the MIL champions 25-13, 25-8, 25-20.
Wil Stanley had a full stat line with 10 kills, 18 assists and one of his team’s six aces. Todd Gruebner added 20 assists and an ace as Punahou used a diversified offense to stymie King Kekaulike.
Na Alii came into the state semifinals this weekend ranked No. 6 in the Star-Advertiser Top 10. They upset Kamehameha during the Kamehameha Cup last month.
The Buffanblu were tuned in to stop Na Alii’s outside hitter Colton Cowell, a UH commit.
"They ran a lot of back-one and he was effective until we made our adjustments," Punahou coach Rick Tune said. "We’re an adaptive defense."
Cowell had three kills in the first two sets, but had five kills in the final set when coach Leah Hall’s squad stayed much closer. Na Alii were within 22-20 at one point, but Punahou’s defense was too balanced.
Akahi Trosky, a 6-foot-5 middle, often matched up on the opposite side of Cowell and stymied King Kekaulike with four kills and blocks.
J.B. Kam added five kills. Ethan Siegfried and Sam Bradley tallied three apiece, and Kana‘i Akana and Kainoa Quindica chipped in two apiece. In all, Punahou hit .639. The Buffanblu had 11 service errors to go with the six kills.
Liam Chan-Hodges added five kills for Na Alii (13-3). Don Thompson and Lionel Mills had three kills each. Ian Martins had 11 assists and Izaiah Manrique dished eight. They had two aces and 16 service errors.
Division I
Friday
Semifinals
At Moanalua
Punahou def. King Kekaulike 25-13, 25-8, 25-20
KS-Hawaii def. Moanalua 17-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-23
Saturday
At Blaisdell Arena
Third place
King Kekaulike vs. Moanalua, 3:30 p.m.
Championship
Punahou vs. KS-Hawaii, 7 p.m.
