WAIKOLOA, Hawaii >> Jake Sequin and Hawaii Baptist left nothing to chance at the David S. Ishii Foundation/HHSAA Boys Golf State Championship.

The Mid-Pacific Institute golfer birdied three of his first six holes in Thursday’s opening round and never let anyone catch him. The sophomore closed with a 1-under-par 71 Friday at Waikoloa Kings’ to finish at 139. That was two better than Kolbe Irei of Roosevelt, the only other golfer to finish under par.

Hawaii Baptist was even more relentless in winning its first state golf championship. The Eagles were up by 12 after being the only team to get four scores in the 70s Thursday. That advantage ballooned to 20 by the time the teams made the turn Friday.

Ultimately, HBA’s inaugural title would be by 34 shots over MPI. `Iolani was another three back, at 655, followed by Waiakea at 657.

HBA had three of the top 13 players, led by sophomore Noah Koshi (73—152) and seniors Mason Nakamura (77—153) and Alex Kam (77—154).

A year ago that trio was top 10 — Koshi finished a shot behind medalist AJ Teraoka — but had no fourth player.

“They bought in since last year, when we only had three guys make it to states,” said coach Randy Collins. “I told them, ‘You guys are as good as everyone. We just don’t have tradition because we are so small. But tradition has to start somewhere, sometime and it might as well start today.’”

Freshmen Joshua Hayashida and Jonathan Chung came in this year to give HBA numbers — low ones. Hayashida won two tournaments and had the lowest scoring average in the ILH, where HBA won all eight tournaments.

Collins, who started with the program in 2004 when his son played, and six-year assistant Harvey Sato were beaming before the back nine began Friday. By the 15th, the two chiropractors had tears in their eyes.

“This morning I told them, ‘Boys, I’ve been giving you these pep talks all year long and I don’t know what else to tell you other than let the horses run. Go out and do what you know you can do,’” Collins said. “And they did.”

Meanwhile, Sequin was trying to shake Irei with birdies on three of the first five holes. The junior would not go away. He cut his deficit to one at the turn before Sequin found a little short-game magic.

He chunked his second shot at the 13th, then chipped in for birdie. “Really bad” first and second shots at the par-3 15th left him vulnerable, but he chipped in again for par, then closed by matching Irei’s birdie at the final hole.

“My short game was there when I needed it,” said Sequin, who needed just “20-something” putts Thursday. “I wouldn’t say I was nervous, I just didn’t hit great shots … and held on for my life.

“It just comes with having done it so many times — being close to the top or having to play good on the last hole. You get used to it over time. This ranks right up there, it was really important me. I am in shock.”

Kealakehe freshman Ethan Jaehn and ILH champ Peter Jung, a Maryknoll sophomore, both finished at 71—145. Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Pono Yanagi got the highest finish of any senior, at 74—146, and took fifth.