KAILUA-KONA – The best of the Big Island’s high school bowlers converged at KBXtreme Saturday afternoon.
By the day’s end, a the BIIF champions were finally crowned. Taking the top spot for the boys was Kealakehe’s Kaiden Eytcheson with the highest average of 151; for the girls, Kamehameha’s Briana Gaylord edged out teammate Kahiwa Ili for the title. Gaylord sported a 133 average, while Ili had an average game of 130.5.
Both Eytcheson and Gaylord led the way for team titles. Kealakehe’s boys team of Eytcheson, Kainoa Plato, Brandon Mendoza and Makaio Mercado claimed the team title, while Kamehameha’s team of Gaylord, Ili, Kelise Figueroa, Ciana-lei Bence and Alessandra Figueiredo won on the girls’ side.
Finishing behind Eytcheson in the individual standings were Kamehameha’s Blaise Viloria (132) in second and Krysjyn-Kydyn Nakamura (131) in third, followed by Kealakehe’s Kainoa Plato (129.8) in fourth and Kamehameha’s Kamakani McKeague (112) in fifth.
For the girls, Konawaena’s Mina Taniyama (121) and Grace Corpuz (112) took third and fourth, respectively, while Kealakehe’s Kylea Medeiros (103) rounded out the top five.
Both team champions qualified for the HHSAA State Tournament on Dec. 9-10 at Leeward Bowl on Oahu. Joining the BIIF team champions in earning berths to the HHSAA State Tournament for the boys were Kamehameha’s Viloria, Nakamura, McKeague, Kauakea Pratt and Kamaile Scholtz. Joining Kamehameha’s girls team in earning berths were Konawaena’s Taniyama and Corpuz, Kealakehe’s Medeiros and Isabelle Munjar and Ka’u’s Candace Keohuloa.