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In Utah, high school football played on in the fall of 2020.
Eventually, California lifted its ban on the sport once COVID-19 numbers declined. By spring of ’21, fans across the state, including parents in San Diego who had filed suit against the governor, were gratified to see their teams back on the gridiron.
Even Nevada brought the sport back with a caveat: Las Vegas metro public schools were prohibited from playing.
In Hawaii, not a single official prep football game. In fact, all public-school sports in the fall and winter were banned. Only the private-school Interscholastic League of Honolulu fielded some winter sports, though boys and girls basketball, and boys and girls soccer remained sidelined.
The ILH brought cross country back. The fall sport was played in an abbreviated format during the winter. Girls volleyball, also a fall sport, was played in the spring with a shortened season.
The spring was a return to some sense of normalcy. The ILH played championships in spring sports, though the number of games played in the regular season and playoffs was generally cut in half.
Boosted and saved by a $250,000 donation by the CPB Foundation, Wally Yonamine Foundation, Motiv8 Foundation, Shane Victorino Foundation, DeForest Buckner, the Friedman Foundation and others, public-school spring sports were revived. The Oahu Interscholastic Association did not have playoffs or championships, leaving coaches in the unusual predicament of prioritizing overall participation.
2021 also gave technology a key role. With spectators banned from all live competition, games across the board were streamed live by schools. There was hardly an athletic director without an iPad and bungee cord in tow.
For most, if not all, the return of spring sports was invigorating and inspiring.
“It’s not all about winning for us. It’s about playing life the right way and making good decisions in life,” Mililani baseball coach Mark Hirayama said. “If we do that, the baseball part is going to take care of itself. My job is to develop good young men who can give back to the community.”
Here’s a look at how a few surviving ILH winter and fall sports, along with OIA and ILH spring sports played out in ’21 after being canceled in ’20.
Spring
Baseball
In the ILH, teams played one round-robin rather than two, and the playoffs were reduced from a double-elimination format to single elimination. Saint Louis, the third-place team in the regular season, rose to the challenge and edged Punahou 2-1 in the final. Junior shortstop Aiva Arquette, a shade under 6 feet, 4 inches, smacked a double and a triple and scored both of the Crusaders’ runs.
The prelude to Saint Louis’ title was an 11-6 win over Mid-Pacific that featured a two-homer performance by pitcher Caleb Lomavita, who also hurled a complete-game win, allowing three earned runs.
“My guys, our school, our alumni, our families and our players, that’s what they were playing for, a championship,” Crusaders coach George Gusman said. “We are very proud of our accomplishment. We are very happy for our school and our accomplishment. Someone was going to win a championship. Why not us?”
Gusman has led Saint Louis to four ILH baseball titles.
Even with more games than other leagues — the neighbor islands didn’t play any baseball — it was basically over in a blink.
The OIA played a similar regular-season slate to the ILH, with a single round-robin, but the absence of playoffs made it quite different. In addition, some baseball and softball programs had a late start depending on when students were allowed back on campus. The lack of time for drills may have affected baseball as much as any sport, but coaches and players played on.
Rain-out games were not made up, for the most part, leaving some teams with fewer than the new standard of seven games. A game between Kalani and Kailua was thoroughly flushed away by rain on a Wednesday afternoon, but the teams returned on Thursday and played. Technically, the game/scrimmage did not count in the standings, but the Falcons and Surfriders wouldn’t let an opportunity for a rare game slip away.
In the OIA East, Kalani had the best record at 5-0, not including a crossover loss to Mililani. In the West, Mililani and Kapolei played to a 2-all tie in the season finale and shared first place at 5-1-1.
One big blessing for the island’s top teams is the Oahu Classic — organized by former Kamehameha coach and UH baseball standout Vern Ramie — being played this weekend at Hans L’Orange Park. The top two ILH teams and top four OIA squads are squaring off. Kamehameha and Punahou had been scheduled to play but dropped out.
“We’re playing this like we want to win this tournament,” Gusman said. “If we’re going to keep score, we’re going to play to win. The OIA teams, I’m sure they’re looking forward to playing us and Mid-Pac. Guys want to play us, so we talked about being ready.”
Socially distanced fans were permitted into the park for the first time this spring.
“The Mililani-Kalani game (on Friday), you would think it’s for the OIA championship the way both teams are in it,” Gusman added. “There are people in the stands, all with masks, cheering, crowd is going crazy. The teams, the parents, it’s like old days, it’s awesome.”
Softball
Like baseball, some of the best talent in the state saw limited time on the field because of a short season. The nature of softball, where pitchers can recover and throw in every game, allowed some top aces to shine despite the limitation.
In the ILH, the single round-robin and single-elimination playoff formats could not contain the scoring explosions in this era of highly trained hitters and evolutionary technology. Maryknoll, which lost a wild 18-17 game against ‘Iolani late in the regular season, later avenged the loss with an 11-1 TKO win over the Raiders in the ILH final.
Talent up and down the lineup abounded, from junior ace Ua Nakoa-Chung to senior slugger Liliana Thomas (Arizona State commit) to freshman basher Jenna Sniffen to speedy, power-hitting senior outfielder Mahalo Akaka and many more.
Nakoa-Chung’s transformation from a tough outing against ‘Iolani to a three-hitter in the ILH final against the same Raiders was stunning.
“Ua is really hard to hit. She has variations of pitches. She doesn’t rely on one pitch that day. If she can come up with a changeup that’s deceiving, she’s going to be hard to stop next year,” Maryknoll coach John Uekawa said. “This was definitely a special team. We had a lot of spirit. If someone was down, everybody else picked them up. It’s hard to find a team like this. Deep down in our heart, we challenged ourselves to be up like this was state final.”
Kamehameha, which lost to ‘Iolani 7-6 in the semifinal round, was arguably the third-best team in the state, but without a state tournament in 2020-21, nothing is certain. Punahou, which also lost in the semifinals, and Mid-Pacific were talented, relatively young and Top-10 level teams in another season of the ILH gauntlet.
Mililani went 6-0 in the OIA West, ahead of Campbell (5-1-2) and Pearl City (4-0-2). Castle led the East at 6-1, followed by Kaiser (5-2).
Golf
Shayna Lu didn’t get an early start to competitive golf, but she was surrounded by the game as she grew up. Brother Shawn Lu played for Moanalua and is now a fifth-year senior golfer at Oregon State.
Punahou’s Shayna Lu, a Seattle University commit, isn’t doing too badly either after winning the ILH championship on Saturday at Pearl Country Club. She wasn’t expecting a title as she had and up-and-down day.
“I was 2 under through nine, but I had four consecutive bogeys in the back. It was a little windy toward the end. I didn’t really know how much I was ahead by. I didn’t know I was leading until, say, my 15th or 16th hole. I heard one of the coaches say, ‘You’re 1 back,’” she said. “The greens at Pearl are just really tricky. It’s kind of just luck if it goes in. It’s hard to predict.”
Junior Josh Hayashida of Hawaii Baptist won the ILH boys crown with a 69 on the PCC course.
Tennis
The marathon isn’t exclusive to runners. Jaqueline O’Neill of Punahou and Kylie Canubida didn’t know when their ILH championship singles match would end. The tourney began on a Saturday, continued through the week and the final began on Wednesday at ‘Iolani.
But match time was 4:30 p.m., and darkness followed quickly on Wednesday, then Thursday and Friday, when rain was a challenge. The match finally ended on Saturday morning with O’Neill, a senior, winning 6-3, 5-6 (5), 6-2. It was the end of an unbeaten season for O’Neill, who will play at Cal State Northridge next season. Canubida is a junior who could be the favorite in 2022.
Freshman Payton Jim On of Punahou won the boys singles final, 6-3, 6-2 over Andre Ajed of Mid-Pacific.
“Actually, I know Andre and we talked about playing in the ILH championship one day. He’s really strong, so in my head I thought it would be tough, but the finals took three days to complete. I don’t think I was lucky, but I was able to take the momentum each day because I’m a fast starter compared to Andre.”
Track and field
The ILH championships were a revelation for ‘Iolani, which took the boys title and finished runners-up in the girls team standings.
Punahou was a clear-cut first in the girls’ point totals, riding a wave of first-place finishers. Hannah Miura won the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and the junior also sparked Punahou’s winning 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams.
Many of the Buffanblu had endured injuries before and during the season. After Miura, Rae Yoshioka, Xevani Salanoa and Adri Maroney began their relay gold performances, senior Ally Little won the 400 (1:00.23), Malia Dickhens took the 800 (2:25.57) and sophomore Isabella Ford led the 3,000 (11:16.72).
One champion, ‘Iolani freshman Jolie Nguyen, who won the 1,500 and finished second to Ford in the 3,000, might be one and done. Nguyen is a tennis devotee, and because tennis and track are in the same season, she doesn’t want to compromise her favorite sport again.
“I’m going to continue to keep training for tennis, keep up my hitting skills and try to get better, improve. I think just this year, I’m going to be focusing on cross country since there’s no JV season for tennis,” Nguyen said. “And then I don’t think I’m going to be doing track. I might come back later on, but not this coming year. I need to focus on my varsity tennis.”
‘Iolani’s boys title was the first since 1989, when current head coach Shane Hedani was in his first year as an assistant under his father, Earl.
The Raiders collected points in a wide array of events, getting the maximum from 100-meter dash winner Brody Bantolina (10.94) and Evan Georgia (51.23).
Volleyball, boys
Punahou (12-0) wasn’t necessarily the tallest team, but every match was a demonstration of precision and killer instinct.
“Coach (Rick Tune) said, be the predator, not the prey,” junior outside hitter Riley Haine said.
With seniors Nate Loose and Ryder Hsiung in the middle, outside hitters Keau Thompson and Haine wreaked havoc on foes. Noa Haine’s versatility and setter Keegan Au Yuen’s accuracy kept the Buffanblu at an efficient level, and libero Xander Pink led the back row.
The Buffanblu swept Kamehameha 25-17, 25-11 in the league final. A winner of eight consecutive state titles and 10 of the previous 11 under Tune, Punahou likely would have been the top seed in the ’20 and ’21 state tournaments.
Damien (7-1) edged Saint Louis for the ILH Division II title.
In the OIA, matches were played in best-of-five format. Roosevelt (7-1), Moanalua (6-1) and Kaiser (5-1) led the East standings. Pearl City (7-0) and Mililani (6-0) paced the West.
Volleyball, girls
While public-school leagues went dormant on girls volleyball, the ILH kept hope alive and came through with a modified season in the spring. As expected, the quality of play was elite in a league stocked with club volleyball talent. In the end, Kamehameha and Punahou met for the crown, with the Warriors topping the Buffanblu in two sets at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.
It was only the third matchup between the powerhouse programs. Each time one lost, it evolved and adapted, becoming stronger and better — the way of ILH competitors.
In a normal season, the best teams in ILH volleyball meet five or six times by the end of a state tournament. In this season, Punahou’s young, powerful squad didn’t get that next chance. Kamehameha (9-2), led by juniors Maui Robins and Devin Kahahawai, brought another title home.
Maryknoll (11-2) took the ILH D-II championship, topping Hawaii Baptist in the final.
Ghosts of the gridiron
The spring season of ’21 wasn’t complete, really, without modified exhibition scrimmages between Kamehameha, Punahou and Saint Louis. Coaches were happy to see seniors finally get on-field action — for the first time since the fall of ’19 — against rivals rather than their own teams. Some players who had considered sitting out and staying healthy for upcoming college seasons put on the school colors one last time. Others opted to work out but stayed on the sideline.
Winter
Air riflery
Mid-Pacific made school history by producing the girls champion, Mindy Higa, and boys champion, Evan Miyashiro. Higa led the girls division with a score of 542. Miyashiro topped the boys division at 538 points.
Sacred Hearts captured the girls team title, its third ILH crown in the past four seasons. MPI won the boys team championship.
Cross country
The ILH saved the season, and for good reason: Talent abounded, especially among underclassmen. Kamehameha’s William Ho, a senior, won the boys individual title, outlasting a standout time by ‘Iolani freshman Devin Pang.
Meanwhile, ‘Iolani’s Jolie Nguyen, a tennis player, led the girls race with a time of 13:14. That gave Nguyen the cross country and track 1,500-meter run titles in a span of just two months.
The rise of Raiders running extended to Pang and his teammates, as ‘Iolani won the boys team title. Pang (10:42), Keane Palmer (10:47) and senior Joshua Lerner (10:48) gave ‘Iolani second-, third- and fourth-place finishes at the tape.
Punahou captured the girls team championship. Runner-up Sasha Iizuka-Sheeley (13:15) and Lauren Saunders (third place, 13:24) led a strong core of six Buffanblu among the top 12 finishers. Brie Yamamoto (13:52), Kyle Hasegawa (13:53), Elise Wong (13:55) and Katie Blair (13:55) are freshmen.
The course distance was shortened from 3 miles to 2 for this season. Instead of a normal convergence of runners from all schools, teams ran separately at staggered start times at Mid-Pacific’s challenging, hilly course.
Swimming and diving
The ‘Iolani boys won the ILH title, sparked by Jon Reiter’s gold in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:55.65) and 200 individual medley (54.75). He joined Joshua Taufehema, Chase Douglas and Stone Miller on the 200 freestyle relay winner. The same crew took second in the 200 medley relay.
James Lyon of Punahou earned gold in three events: 200 freestyle (1:40.79), 500 freestyle (4:38.26) and 400 freestyle relay.
Punahou won the girls team title, its seventh in a row. Andrea Zeebe (2:04.44, 200 individual medley), Kai Flanagan (5:03.04, 500 freestyle) and Leila Nasrallah (57.27, 100 butterfly) took first-place honors for the Buffanblu.
Alana Barthel of Le Jardin set a backstroke mark of 54.92, breaking her previous league record. The Olympic hopeful also won the 100 freestyle (52.04).
Exhibition basketball
Just a few teams, all from the ILH, played exhibition games during the winter. Saint Louis played the most, by far, and went 11-0 against club teams and 2-0 against school teams, beating Punahou and Le Jardin. Damien also took the court for games and scrimmages, though its gym was locked. Kamehameha and ‘Iolani played a boys basketball home-and-home series.
The Crusaders were a dominant team led by juniors Aiva Arquette — the baseball standout — and elite quarterback AJ Bianco. Senior Jydon “Boogie” Hall returned to Hawaii after one year in Georgia and cemented his place as one of the top point guards in the islands.
Had there been a normal basketball season, Maryknoll’s Sage Tolentino would have returned from the mainland to lead the defending state champion Spartans. Kamehameha had a deep, talented roster that would have contended for ILH and state titles.
Girls basketball was extremely limited. Kamehameha and ‘Iolani played a home-and-home series, both games won by the two-time state champion Raiders. ‘Iolani’s senior-heavy team saw its annual Classic and a mainland trip disappear as most winter sports in the ILH were shut down.
Two-time All-State player of the year Lily Wahinekapu had 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and six steals in a 62-40 win at Kamehameha. Standouts Kyra Tanabe, Alexandra Huntimer and Alexis Huntimer completed their final seasons as well. Wahinekapu’s talented younger sister, Jovi Lefotu, will return to lead the new-look Raiders of 2021-22.
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2021 TEAM CHAMPIONS
ILH Air Riflery
>> Boys team champion: Mid-Pacific
>> Boys individual champion: Evan Miyashiro, Mid-Pacific
>> Girls team champion: Sacred Hearts
>> Girls individual champion: Mindy Higa, Mid-Pacific
ILH Cross Country
>> Boys team champion: ‘Iolani
>> Boys individual champion: William Ho, Kamehameha
>> Girls team champion: Punahou
>> Girls individual champion: Jolie Nguyen, ‘Iolani
ILH Swimming and Diving
>> Boys team champion: ‘Iolani
>> Girls team champion: Punahou
2021 spring
Baseball
>> ILH champion: Saint Louis
>> OIA West first place: Kapolei (5-1-1), Mililani (5-1-1)
>> OIA East first place: Kalani (5-1, 5-0 East)
Golf
>> ILH boys team champion: Hawaii Baptist
>> ILH boys individual champion: Josh Hayashida, Hawaii Baptist
>> ILH girls team champion: Punahou
>> ILH girls individual champion: Shayna Lu, Punahou
Softball
>> ILH champion: Maryknoll
>> OIA West first place: Mililani (6-0)
>> OIA East first place: Castle (6-1)
Tennis
>> ILH girls singles: Jacqueline O’Neill, Punahou
>> ILH girls doubles: Alyson Hirota/Megan Flores, Punahou
>> ILH boys singles: Payton Jim On, Punahou
>> ILH boys doubles: Justin Frattarelli/Alex Kinoshita, Punahou
Track and Field
>> ILH boys: ‘Iolani
>> ILH girls: Punahou
Volleyball
>> Boys: Punahou
>> Girls: Kamehameha
>> OIA West first place: Pearl City (7-0, Mililani 6-0)
>> OIA East first place: Roosevelt (7-1), Moanalua (6-1), Kaiser (5-1)
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