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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveMay 12, 2024, 12:22am
Sat, May 11, 2024 @ Blaisdell [ 7:00 pm ]
KAKAAKO — There's a new sheriff in town.
In his final prep match, Kainoa Wade put down 34 kills to will No. 2 Kamehameha past No. 1 Punahou in the title match of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Boys Volleyball State Championships Saturday night.
The set scores were 25-27, 25-23, 25-17 and 25-21.
The Warriors (14-5) claimed their first state title since 2011 and their sixth overall. In the process they dethroned the top-seeded Buffanblu (15-1), who saw their 10-year reign as state champions come to an end before a crowd of 2,259 at Blaisdell Arena.
It was Kamehameha's first win over Punahou in five tries this season. The teams faced off in the state final a year ago, when the Buffanblu rallied to a five-set win over the Warriors.
Wade said that the heartbreaking defeat a year ago served as fuel for he and his teammates throughout this season.
"We had a meeting a week after the state championship last year and I said, ‘We will be back in this game and we will win this game,' and that's what we did tonight," said Wade, who was selected as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Wade took 76 total swings and had eight errors for a .342 hitting percentage. He finished off the week with a staggering .458 hitting percentage; in Kamehameha's four state tournament matches, Wade took down 203 total swings and recorded 107 kills against 14 errors.
"He's an all-world talent," Punahou coach Rick Tune said of the 6-foot-9 junior opposite. "Kainoa just took it to a whole ‘nother level tonight."
Although Wade has another year of high school eligibility remaining, he plans on graduating early and early-enrolling at the University of Hawaii next January.
"It's unbelievable. I just wanted to bring one back to the school and fight for these players, these coaches — we've been through so much," Wade said. "We were knocked down, but we never gave up, that's the thing. This group never lost confidence and we showed it tonight."
In addition to Wade's stellar performance, the Warriors got key contributions from outside hitters Conor Williams (10 kills) and Christian Togiai (five kills, seven digs) and libero Harryzen Soares (16 digs). Wade also tallied 11 digs, while setter Brayden Van Kuren notched 41 assists and eight digs.
"They stepped up. Conor Williams stepped up, Christian — the passing stepped up this final game," Agpoon said. "We were struggling with passing for pretty much the bulk of the season and the passing was superb today."
Middle blocker Poukihi Awai was in on five total blocks to help the Warriors out-block the Buffanblu, 10 1/2 to six total team blocks.
"(Kainoa's) a big guy and he's a super talented player, but we just needed that one or two points that we needed," Agpoon said.
Kamehameha led by as many as four in the opening set, but saw Punahou rally to a 27-25 win after it scored seven of the final 10 points in set 1.
New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships
Division I All-Tournament TeamAs selected by the media
Evan Porter, PunahouConor Williams, KamehamehaPoukihi Awai, KamehamehaNalu Akana, PunahouHarryzen Soares, KamehamehaMost Outstanding Player: Kainoa Wade, Kamehameha
Instead of allowing the set loss to further affect them going forward, the Warriors remained optimistic about their chances in the best-of-five match.
"We were up big in set one, just a few points here and there — we knew if we had a few points here and there, a couple digs, a couple blocks — and we showed it through every set for the rest of the match," Wade said.
Agpoon said that he and his players knew that there was much match to played at that point.
"We know Punahou's game is all about adjusting, so that's the one thing we did different, too; we made sure we adjusted to their game and not just our game," Agpoon said.
The Warriors turned the table at the end of set 2, which was tied at 22 before Williams put down a kill from the left side to put his team ahead for good. The teams exchanged points before the trio of Wade, Awai and Williams combined on a triple block to give Kamehameha set 2, 25-23.
Kamehameha used a 6-1 run midway through set 3 to turn a slim 12-11 advantage into an 18-12 cushion. Included in the run were two Wade kills and a pair of double blocks; Awai teamed with Wade for the first one and Williams for the second.
Wade's 10th kill of set 3 closed out the set, 25-17, in favor of the Warriors, who took a two games to one advantage.
The teams were tied at 20 late in set 4 after a kill by Punahou's Nalu Akana. However, Kamehameha turned to Wade, who responded with a kill from the right side off an assist from Van Buren. Awai then turned back a Punahou middle attack with a solo block to force a Buffanblu timeout trailing, 22-20.
Back-to-back attack errors by Punahou set-up match point and two plays later, Van Buren placed a back set to the right pin for Wade, who put it away down the line to end the match.
"Looking up at the scoreboard we were 22-20 last year in the fourth set to go home and this year I look up and it's 22-20 and I said, ‘I'm not going home tonight, we're not going home tonight,' " Wade said.
Tune likened Wade's impact to that of former Kamehameha standout and eventual Olympian, Micah Christenson, and former Iolani and Stanford outside hitter Brad Lawson. Christenson led Kamehameha to its last state title in 2011.
"I think you saw in the third set, (Wade) just started going over the block and there's not much you can do when he goes over the block. They played a great game and that's what you got when you got a player like that on that side of the court. I mean, I've seen it with Micah Christenson and Brad Lawson and Kainoa Wade," Tune said.
Friday's semifinal round didn't necessarily portend well for the Warriors, who needed four sets to turn back No. 3 Moanalua. Meanwhile, the Buffanblu dispatched No. 4 Mililani in a sweep.
"We needed it," Agpoon said. "That one (set) loss that we had, our attitude kind of went to the negative side and they were aware of it finally and they just turned it around and they knew that this game that it was all about that, staying positive the whole time."
Wade said that despite falling short in each of their previous four meetings against the Buffanblu, the Warriors kept the big picture in mind throughout the year.
"We knew from day one that the only game that mattered all year was May 11th. This team never lost confidence. We played them four times, we went to their place and we didn't score twenty points one game, but we never lost confidence because we said, ‘May 11th is the only game that matters,' " Wade said.
Punahou was led by Adam Haidar's 11 kills. Evan Porter and Nalu Akana added 10 kills apiece. Akana also notched 23 assists, while Matthew Chun came up with 14 digs in the loss.
"These guys played their hearts out tonight. Did we play our best match tonight? No, we didn't, but that happens sometimes," Tune said. "It happens sometimes and they elevated to a whole new level, so the players on both teams should be celebrated, just like they should have been last year because both sets of teams played amazing volleyball."
Not long after the final point was recorded, Tune reflected on the 10-year run his team enjoyed atop the boys' prep volleyball world.
"To have that consistency for so long in our program is — I mean, speaks to the character of the players and families and the support from our administration and you know, all streaks are meant to be ended and it's okay. My boys have to learn that lesson, too. You can take something from that, when stuff doesn't go your way, can you totally rebuild and be better and have a better outcome the next time you go through something like this and I think when we debrief this they'll learn a lot," Tune said.
Punahou was seeking its 40th state championship since the tournament's inception in 1969.
Kamehameha's triumph marks the 48th time a school from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu claimed the state title in either Division I or the pre-classification era.
"This team's gonna go down as one of the best to ever do it at Kamehameha and for bringing the trophy back to the hill, straight up," Wade said.
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