KEAAU — Perhaps the most resistance the Kamehameha water polo players received all season came after Saturday’s championship match when coach Dan Lyons at first refused to let his team throw him into the pool.
KEAAU — Perhaps the most resistance the Kamehameha water polo players received all season came after Saturday’s championship match when coach Dan Lyons at first refused to let his team throw him into the pool.
Just like Waiakea had earlier, Lyons fought the good fight. As usual, his Warriors weren’t to be denied.
Senior Kiana Krzyska scored seven goals and sophomore goalkeeper Kelly Fitzgerald stopped her seventh shot of the match with seconds remaining as Kamehameha (12-0) put a bow on its Big Interscholastic Interscholastic Federation dominance with a shutout in a 12-0 victory at Naeole Pool for its third straight undefeated league season.
Krzyska (league-high 66 goals) and Junior Sydney Plunkett (BIIF second-best 53) each outscored the opposition by themselves despite sitting out long stretches of most matches.
Waiakea (9-3) trailed only 1-0 after the first quarter and managed to hold Kamehameha to a season low in goals, including only three in the first half as the private-school Warriors missed on their opportunities despite 14 shots. Krzyska said that prompted Plunkett to remind her teammates at halftime that Kamehameha still has hopes for a No. 2 seed when the Hawaii High School Athletic Association championships brackets are announced today.
“That kind of fueled us a little,” Plunkett said. “If we did really good, we migh have a shot.”
Kamehameha responded with an eight-goal barrage in the third quarter. After a subpar shooting effort in front of the net in the first half, Plunkett scored off a rebound and a steal. Then Krzyska found plenty of open water to operate as she got out in transition and tallied five goals over a five-minute stretch, two on breakaways.
Coming off a fourth-place finish at states last season, a program best, Kamehameha gets a bye into Thursday’s quarterfinals in Honolulu. Waiakea, which got the win it needed Friday with a dramatic 8-7 overtime victory against Hawaii Prep to earn the league’s second state berth, opens play Wednesday.
Waiakea’s best scoring oppurtunity came when junior Akemi King hit the crossbar from close range with her team trailing 3-0 late in the second quarter. In the second half, Kamehameha made it hard for its opponent to even set up its offense as Waiakea managed just five shots. Kamehameha held a 31-14 advantage, including 10-2 in the third.