Punahou girls water polo players and coaches take their annual celebratory dip in the pool after winning another state title. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Punahou's Malia Gacutan (13) tries to block Kamehameha's Kaylen Nitahara's (17) shot which sailed wide right. Sylvia Lee | SL

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MANOA — The dynasty continues.

The Punahou girls water polo program reached a decade-long milestone of dominance after winning its 10th consecutive koa trophy Saturday night at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex on lower campus at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Interscholastic League of Honolulu foes and title game regulars Punahou (14-0) and Kamehameha (10-5) met in the Stanford Carr Development, LLC Girls Water Polo State Championship game for the eighth time in HHSAA history, and much like their four in-season matchups and all previous championship meetings have gone, it was the Buffanblu coming out victorious, this time squeezing by, 3-2.

It was Punahou's 12th title overall in the 14 years the sport has been in play, and perhaps the toughest and grittiest win to date, coming from Malia Gacutan's game-winning penalty shot in the third quarter.

"When you don't have those kind of games your entire season it's always going to be close because [Kamehameha] has nothing to lose," Punahou coach Ken Smith said. "It just shows we have great composure and our defense was really good. To hold them scoreless for three quarters is pretty good."

It was the Buffanblu's lowest offensive output both the entire season and in their championship game history. The only other one-point victory was in 2011 also against the Warriors.

"I think the pace of the game was different, it was a lot faster," Gacutan said. "We tried to slow it down and put the game back in our hands. [Kamehameha] just came out really strong so good job to them."

Kamehameha got on the board first at the 5:13 mark with Lori Char hitting the top right corner from beyond five meters.

Punahou's Malia Gacutan (13) tries to block Kamehameha's Kaylen Nitahara's (17) shot which sailed wide right. Sylvia Lee | SL    Purchase image

"I wanted to build off all the good energy we've been having throughout the tournament," Kamehameha goalkeeper Mikaila Ng said. "We really showed it when we scored the first goal. I don't think that's happened like ever," (Kamehameha also scored first in the 2009 and 2011 title games).

Punahou responded a minute later with Buffanblu-leading scorer Dani Kauahi's skip shot across from the four-post to tie it up.

The Warriors regained the lead in the second quarter after Mahie Lee's shot attempt ricocheted off the left post but was cleaned up by Keylee Leong.

The Buffanblu have never ended the first half of a championship game with a deficit, and when a team has won the previous nine in a row, sometimes it takes a little good fortune to keep it going.

With less than two minutes left in the second quarter, Punahou senior Robbie Bickerton fired a shot that was met with the top bar, but it bounced off the back of goalkeeper Ng and slowly floated in for a score.

"I thought it went in at first and I was kind of confused," Ng said. "But right when I saw it on the goal line, I started panicking because I saw that I had the chance to save it that one last time. It doesn't always go our way but we just had to push through it."

The last time Punahou went into halftime of a championship match tied was the inaugural game in 2004 when the score was 3-3 against Kamehameha.

Mid-way through the third period, Punahou's Kaya Lee found herself on a breakaway counterattack after a long pass from Micaela Kauhane. Lee fought to inside two meters before Kamehameha's Emma Kim poked the ball out from behind, but it was determined a foul to give the Buffanblu a free shot from the five-meter mark.

"Normally when the ball is in your hand, you can attack her," Kamehameha coach Randy Bart said of his disagreement with the call.

Punahou senior Gacutan got the nod and clutched up to give them a 3-2 lead.

"When the five meter was called, I wanted to take it right off the bat and I knew I would make it," Gacutan said. "I shot that right corner and I just saw the back of the net and that was it."

With 0:32 remaining in the game and the 35-second shot clock turned off, Punahou held possession ready to milk the clock when Kamehameha called an illegal timeout to force a Buffanblu penalty shot — akin to forcing free throws when down late in a basketball game in order to get the ball back.

"I told myself last night if we need the ball and there's 15 seconds and they're trying to kill it, I'm going to call a timeout," Bart said.

Gacutan again got the call up but this time she hit the top bar.

"To me, when a shooter bars, it's because she's scared of the goalie getting to that edge," Bart said. "It's desperation but we got ourselves a chance to tie it. That's all you can ask for."

Kamehameha senior Kaylen Nitahara took the last shot from well beyond the five-meter line, but it was stopped short by goalkeeper Haley Crabtree, who was named tournament most outstanding player.

In addition to scoring the winning goal, Gacutan also had the main priority of shutting down Kamehameha's leading scorer and sprinter Payton Bosque, who was held scoreless.

"We definitely focused on shutting her down and keeping the ball out of her hands," Gacutan said. "I guess the task didn't only fall on my hands but all of my teammates."

"Malia guards [Bosque] a lot. We try to wear her out because she's a good player," Smith said. "We're always trying to double team her and make other players do something, and it worked out for us."

Punahou's girls water polo team has now won 110 consecutive games dating back to the start of the 2008 season.

"That's all that matters to just continue Punahou's legacy and make Punahou proud," Gacutan said.