Punahou dominates Waiakea to return to title game

Punahou's Ryan Wilcox puts down a kill against Waiakea. John Lujan | SL

SALT LAKE — Top-seeded Punahou overwhelmed Waiakea 25-16, 25-15, 25-16 in the semifinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Boys Volleyball Championships at Moanalua.

The Buffanblu, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champions, make sixth-straight title game appearance and seeks their 35th overall volleyball championship at Neal Blaisdell Center on Saturday night and plays KS-Hawaii in a rematch of the 2015 title game.

The Warriors, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up, plays Iolani in the third place game at 3:30 p.m.

Game was tied at nine until the Warriors scored three straight points forcing Punahou to call an early timeout. The timeout woke up the sleeping giant as the Buffanblu went on an 8-0 run on blocks by Robert Allen and Kanai Akana and two aces by Buddy Scott to force Waiakea to call a timeout. The Buffanblu went on a 16-4 run to take the first set.

The Buffanblu had 41 kills and hit .408 for the game. Ryan Wilcox led the Buffanblu with 12 kills and Ethan Siegfried added 10. Jameson McKibbin distributed a game-high 16 assists off the bench while Daniel McInerny added 11 assists.

It took some time for the Buffanblu machine to rev up, but once Punahou got on a roll it was too late for Waiakea. The Buffanblu's depth proved to be too much for the Warriors. Alakai Todd, Easton Kays and Jameson McKibbin made meaningful contributions off the bench.

Koby Aiona, who had 32 kills and 18 digs against KS-Maui, led Waiakea with nine kills and an ace while Nakana Laurie added 15 assists.

The teams traded blows in the third set, until Punahou held a 13-11 lead. The Buffanblu started pulling away until Waiakea called a timeout to stop the bleeding as the Warriors trailed, 18-14. McKibbin found Wilcox down the stretch as the Buffanblu went on a
7-2 run to close out the set to complete the sweep.