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Year In Review: Heartbreak, Triumph In Windward Sports

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Kahuku could regard this football season as unfinished business, considering the eligibility issue that kept it out of the OIA and Division I state football championships. It was,however,a season of well-executed on-field play.

They finished 10-0 in the games it did play, outscoring opponents an average of 36 to 10. It also had an impressive 49-27 inter-league win over eventual Division I state champion Saint Louis in week two. The defense gave up a touchdown or less in six of its 10 games and posted three shutouts along the way. Offensively, it tallied 38 points or more in seven of its games. For their part, the Red Raiders figure to top every-one’s list as the favorite to win the state in 2011. A summation of other notable 2010 sports stories follows.

Castle defeats Kailua,wins Hammer trophy.Bragging rights were on the line as always Oct. 2 when Castle and Kailua renewed one of Hawaii’s best high school rivalries at Kailua. Another sentiment ran through the team that night, however: making the OIA post-season. And they did with a riveting 26-17 victory over Kailua in front of 2,000 fans. Kailua entered with a five-game win streak and had posted a rare win over the Knights in 2009, but quarterback Castle’s Jaymason Lee, who would go on to earn offensive Player of the Year honors in the OIA Red East, threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns. The win marked the eighth in the last nine meetings for Castle,which finished its season 5-4 overall (3-3 in the Red East).

Kailua has breakthrough year in football. When it came to style points, it was hard to find a more entertaining Windward team than Kailua, which used high-powered passing to post a five-game win streak. Catalyst was quarterback Kahaku Iaea, throwing for 2,131 yards and 16 touchdowns to lead the Surfriders to the No. 2 seed out of the Red East for the OIA playoffs. Although Waianae ended Kailua’s season in the first round Oct. 10, it still returned to the high-rent district of Oahu football. Kailua finished at 5-4 (4-2 in the Red East).

Kalaheo football team reaches OIA DII title game. Chris Mellor’s oft-repeated statement that Kalaheo is a basketball school in football country has always rung true, but there’s no doubt it has become a big-time player on the gridiron in recent years. That point was driven home when it defeated Waipahu 43-28 Oct. 23 to advance to its first-ever OIA (Division II) title game. Kalaheo had lost to Waipahu (31-20) in the regular season but rebounded big in their OIA semifinal. Although they lost to Kaimuki in the title game two weeks later,they had already clinched a berth in the state football championships. Kalaheo finished its season 6-5 (6-3 in the OIA White).

Kalaheo’s Chico Furtado leaves; Alika Smith returns. Chico Furtado had wanted his team’s Feb. 25 season finale versus Farrington to be about his seniors, but that wasn’t entirely possible,given his long and highly successful association with the Kailua school. Furtado had told administrators as well as his players that the 2009-10 season would be his last, marking the end of a 20-year run - first as an assistant coach to the late Pete Smith and for the last seven years as head boys coach. He always looked on his time as “continuing the legacy of Pete Smith,” his friend and mentor.Together,Furtado and Smith won 11 OIA titles and three state championships. After Mellor took over in 2004, Kalaheo added another OIA title and advanced to the state title game,where they were defeated by Iolani. In July, the school landed Smith’s son Alika as head coach. The former Mustang and UH basketball standout left his Punahou job to come home and follow in the steps of his father and predecessor.

Kailua girls soccer team plays in OIA title game. The Kailua girls soccer team played out its 2009-10 season with heavy hearts after the sudden death of longtime coach Wil Kimura in mid-December. Rallying around new coach Malu Afong, they stayed the course, taking 12 straight games to win both the OIA East and overall OIA title. Only a Feb. 6 loss to Pac-Five - on penalty kicks following two scoreless overtime periods - kept them from the Division II state title as well. Kailua finished its emotional season 14-1.

Kahuku girls basketball team plays for OIA title. The Red Raiders were edged out Feb. 14 by Kaimuki in the OIA title game at Mililani, but still closed out another solid season, finishing 12-3. They had defeated the Bulldogs earlier in the tourney, dropping Kaimuki into the losers’ bracket before it rebounded to win a pair of games against Kahuku in the championship round. Hiilei Cummings led the way in the OIA final with 18 points for Kahuku, which went on to finish third at the Division I state tournament. Coach Junior Avei left at season’s end to assist Hiram Akina, who took over the BYUH women’s program.

BYUH makes Elite Eight again (opened season ranked No. 1 in country). Lucas Alves saved one of his biggest efforts for his biggest game, finishing his career with game-highs of 26 points and 10 rebounds in BYUH’s NCAA Division II West regional final versus Cal Poly Pomona March 15.While the Seasiders were turned away on their bid to make the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament - 78-75 by the Broncos - the contest still ended another exceptional season for the team, which grabbed a share of the PacWest conference championship and finished 23-6 overall. BYUH had entered the season ranked No. 1 nationally among Division II programs and weathered injuries along the way to make the West regional final for the third straight year.

Kahuku girls win OIA Division I volleyball title. Kahuku defeated Moanalua 25-23, 25-21, 28-26 to claim the OIA Red Conference title Oct. 21. Setter Teuila Nautu led the way, finishing with 34 assists and five kills. Lepeka Kalulu-Sugai contributed 13 kills, Elizabeth Blake had nine, while Ho’onani Apo and middle Pati Anae had six kills each. The win marked Kahuku’s third straight OIA title and its first under new coach Kaniela Kalama. It finished sixth in the state.

Kalaheo mixed paddling team wins state title. Kalaheo brought home the state Mixed Paddling title Feb. 6 at Keehi Lagoon behind its crew of Torin Luis, Kaoru Lovett, Barak Argov, Michael Borges, Nick Herrera, Courtney Wemple,Ameet Argov, Jenna Cates, Summer Zuidema and Taylor Soldat. Coached by Julian Wicker, they had won a second straight OIA title a week earlier.

Kailua bowler Patacsil named OIA Playerof the Year. Kailua senior Austin Patacsil won the individual OIA boys bowling title Oct. 14 at Schofield Barracks with 1,266 pins, edging out Aaron Yamamoto (1,251) of Kalani. As a team, Kailua finished third overall in the OIA behind Pearl City, Kalani and Mililani. Patacsil also was the East’s Player of the Year. Justin Lau and Tyler NoquezEpil were named First Team All-Conference selections.

Kailua triumphs in boys soccer.Kailua captured its first OIA boys soccer title with a 2-0 win over McKinley in the White championship game at Kapolei High Feb. 6. Brandon Taoy and Trey Tam scored five minutes apart in the first half to get the margin of victory. The title came in coach Steve Dignam’s first year and lifted the Surfriders into the Division II state championships the following week. Kailua finished its season 11-5.