Desiree Ichishita describes herself as more of a sports viewer, not a participator.
Desiree Ichishita describes herself as more of a sports viewer, not a participator.
But Kealakehe coach Gerald Ota saw something in Ichishita when he recruited her to the bowling team during her freshman year.
Whatever it was, Ichishita said, it wasn’t her bowling skills.
“I had no idea how to bowl, unless I used bumpers,” Ichishita said.
She’s managed to straighten out her game some.
Ichishita said she was somewhat shocked by her Big Island Interscholastic Federation championship performance Saturday at KBXtreme in Kailua-Kona, but not Ota. He saw the consistency he’s come to expect from the senior.
“She’s pretty much just an all-around good bowler,” Ota said. “She’s really accurate, she’s good at picking up spares, she has a really nice strong ball.”
While Ichishita was steady, Kamehameha’s Seth Yamaguchi dabbled with the spectacular.
Yamaguchi rolled a 268 in his fourth game — 10 strikes and two spares — en route to a 700 afternoon series to easily win the boys title.
“A 700, that’s hard for adults to accomplish,” Warriors coach Ricky Torres said. “Honestly, I was kind of surprised.
“But Seth’s pretty much the perfect bowler. He does what he’s told, is mentally strong, never gives up and never has an attitude.”
Yamaguchi averaged 207.5 pins, 40 above his season average, over six games.
Torres sees the sophomore as a prime contender at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association tournament, which is Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at KBXtreme.
“There’s no reason he can’t contend to win it all,” Torres said.
Ichishita also bested her season average by seven pins.
She said unhappiness with her rounds a week earlier prompted her to put in extra practice time, and she noticed the benefits as she started off the BIIF finals by rolling five strong games, all between 170-195.
“Getting off to a good start is definitely a confidence-booster, because it’s like, ‘OK I got this,’ and it’s important because it just picks me up and makes me feel that all the extra practice is paying off,” she said.
Her only dip came in the final game during a 113, but her 169.5 average bested Konawaena’s Madison Staup by five pins.
“I was kind of scared that the last game would bring my average down, and I had no idea how the other girls were doing, so I was definitely stressing,” Ichishita said.
More than three years after being recruited by Oda, Ichishita is ready to return the favor.
“I highly suggest that students join Kealakehe’s bowling team next year because it’s fun and you get to make new friends,” she said.
The BIIF champion Lady Waveriders placed three bowlers in the top five.
Staup (164.3), who had the high game on the girls side with a 209, was followed by Hilo’s Caitlyn Price (156.8), Kealakehe’s Rosemarie Stevenson-Johnson (141.5) and the Waveriders’ Kes Stark (140).
Bowling for boys champion Konawaena, Tresen Arakaki (186.8) was runner-up behind Yamaguchi. Kamehameha’s Brandyn Lee-Lehano (181), Keaau’s Erik Arnold (179) and Kealakehe’s Kawika Pierson (178) rounded out the top five.