Midway through Thursday’s ILH water polo championship, Punahou goalie Emalia Eichelberger rose out of the pool to tip a shot, only to have the ball glance off her fingertips and fall into the goal behind her.

The Buffanblu senior pounded the water in the wake of Kamehameha’s fifth goal of the match before resetting her focus.

The Punahou defense limited the Warriors’ scoring opportunities from that point on, while Eichelberger walled off the goal and the Buffanblu hammered in eight unanswered scores in a 13-5 victory that added yet another ILH title to the program’s ever-expanding collection.

“After the first quarter we just made some adjustments in our defense, seeing what Kamehameha was doing,” Punahou coach Ken Smith said. “They have a couple of really good attackers, so we changed our defense a little bit and that ignited our fast break and got us going.”

Punahou retained the league title after facing a deficit for the first time in an otherwise dominant season and will look to pair ILH and state championships for the ninth straight year when the state tournament opens May 6 at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.

Punahou entered Thursday’s match at 7-0 in the ILH, having outscored its league opponents 87-15. But Kamehameha, which lost three regular-season matches to the Buffanblu by an aggregate score of 32-7, traded goals with Punahou through the first 11 minutes at the Warriors’ Kalaniopu’u Pool.

The Warriors took a 4-3 lead on Payton Bosque’s second goal of the first quarter and tied it up at 5 when Anu Parker’s lob eluded Eichelberger’s grasp.

Punahou responded by extending its defensive pressure, pushing the Warriors toward the middle of the pool and obstructing their looks at the goal. Micaela Kauhane scored the go-ahead goal at the 2:24 mark of the second quarter and Saki Migliorato added two more before halftime and the Buffanblu continued to break away in the second half.

Kauhane scored a game-high four goals and Smith said she “overall really set the tempo for the game.”

Marissa Miller finished with three goals, Migliorato and Natassia Dunn had two each and Robbie Bickerton and Dani Kauahi both had one.

Smith also credited Eichelberger, who signed with Stanford last fall, for sparking the offense from her post in goal.

“She’s a great passer and she really fuels our fast break,” Smith said. “I like to describe her as another offensive player because she’s part of our fast break. We can take chances on defense knowing we have her there to kind of cover for you. So she’s really instrumental in really getting us going.”

While Punahou continued its reign in the ILH, Kamehameha coach Randy Bart, who has two seniors on a 13-player roster, saw signs of progress in the Warriors’ fourth matchup with the Buffanblu this season.

“It starts with Ken — he’s a really good coach, national-caliber coach,” Bart said. “And they have size, they have speed and they have experience.

“They’re here and we’re starting here,” Bart said, one hand at eye level and the other near his chest. “We have the upward trajectory and at some point we hope to catch them, but it just depends on where our learning curve is. We got a lot closer today, but obviously we still have some work to do.”