Sunshine Fontes went full circle.
The Pearl City senior striker was an overwhelming choice as the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s girls player of the year, an honor she also earned as a freshman for the Chargers three years ago.
Fontes is now a three-time selection to the Stellar Eleven and she did it this year even though a knee injury kept her out of the state tournament. The leading scorer for the U.S. U-17 national team in 2018 with 22 goals, she also found the net 25 times for the Chargers. But it was her growth as a leader in her final high school season that Pearl City coach Frank Baumholtz III emphasized about Fontes’ contribution to the team.
“It’s always a challenge having a player so skilled and trying to get them to be a leader, but she really did it this year and helped motivate everybody,” he said. “Her ability to understand the game improved tremendously from her freshman to senior years, and understanding the game can sometimes be more important than scoring goals.
“After the injury, the players came to play for her because before that they knew she was playing for them.”
D’awncey Jones-Black, a striker who ignited Kamehameha on its run to the Division I state championship, also garnered player of the year votes and easily made the Stellar Eleven, which is voted on by coaches from around the state. She was called on to play on the back line in the state finale when starter Hayley Silipa went down with an injury.
Jones-Black is joined on the first team by Warriors defender Carley Park and speedy striker Kalia Kalua, both of whom came through in the clutch during states. Silipa and another Kamehameha defender, Nicole Wong, made the second team along with Warriors goalkeeper Chaylea Tome.
“Kitty (Jones-Black’s nickname) is a very good all-around player, dangerous with and without the ball,” the Chargers’ Baumholtz said.
Fontes and Jones-Black can contest their own mini soccer version of the Rose Bowl, since Fontes is headed to UCLA of the Pac-12 and Jones-Black is going to Ohio State of the Big Ten.
According to Baumholtz, Fontes’ rehab is going well and she is expected to redshirt in the fall.
Campbell wobbled through the regular season and put it all together to storm into the D-I state final, where it suffered a 1-0 defeat to Kamehameha. That late surge helped get three Sabers recognized on the first team and a coach of the year nod to James Curran.
Center midfielder Jourdyn Curran — the coach’s daughter and a cousin of current University of Oregon and former Campbell player Chardonnay Curran — locked down the middle for the Sabers and showed off her play-making ability and tenacity to join the Stellar Eleven. Campbell striker Hokulei Ishikawa (18 goals) and defender Katherine Pothier join her there.
“Jourdyn is an up-and-coming great player,” Baumholtz said.
Curran and Park are the only two sophomores in the top 11.
Three from the neighbor islands were first-team selections — Konawaena keeper Kyanah Blas, Hawaii Prep striker Emi Higgins and Kamehameha-Hawaii midfielder Kaila Ambrosio.
Higgins scored 14 goals and was a driving force in Ka Makani’s sixth straight Division II state title. Ambrosio netted 15 goals in leading the Warriors to the D-II final. Blas made crucial saves, including one in the second overtime and one during penalty kicks, during the Wildcats’ 2-1 (5-4 PKs) quarterfinal upset of two-time defending champion ‘Iolani.
Aislynn Crowder, a Mililani center midfielder who scored 11 goals, rounds out the first team.
Curran, the Campbell coach, had high praise for Crowder.
“(Aside from Fontes), she is above the rest in all aspects of the game,” he said.
By far, Curran was the top vote-getter as coach of the year after the Sabers went on a tear and pushed Kamehameha in the title game all the way to the final whistle.
There are three juniors on the Stellar Eleven — Blas, Crowder and Kalua — and six seniors.
Of the 24 first- and second-team players, eight are strikers, with six defenders, six midfielders and two goalkeepers.
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