Top Performers
Lunas' Tihada, Saints' Kalei garner recognition




Male Athlete of the Week: Joshua Tihada, Lahainaluna football
Joshua Tihada was at his best when it mattered the most.

The running back accounted for 174 all-purpose yards and scored four of his five rushing touchdowns after regulation to help Lahainaluna to a pulsating 75-69 win over Konawaena in seven overtimes in Saturday's First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA Division II Football State Championship game at Aloha Stadium.

Tihada, a 5-foot-8, 160-pound sophomore carried the ball 24 times for 91 yards to finish as the Lunas' leading rusher. He also registered three receptions for 75 yards and had one punt return for eight yards in the win.

"I think he did a great job," Lahainaluna co-head coach Garret Tihada said of his nephew.

"The thing is we just preach ‘team' and that it takes so much to make one play successful, so everybody has to be on the right page and he just happened to be the guy that was the ball was going to, but we're definitely proud of how he played."

Tihada's first trip to the end zone came with 3:14 left in the third quarter on a 7-yard touchdown run that capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive that took nearly five minutes off the clock and gave the Lunas a 28-13 lead.

However, the Wildcats posted a furious fourth-quarter comeback to tie it at 31 at the end of regulation and send it into overtime.

Lahainaluna's first three overtime possessions ended with Tihada TD runs. However, the teams remained deadlocked until the seventh OT period. That's when Konawaena came up empty on its possession after losing a fumble at the goal line, which set-up the Lunas' final drive.

All four plays on the ensuing possession were Tihada runs. He picked up consecutive gains of five yards to make it first-and-goal from the 10, before running for six yards and finally, scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 4-yard run on his team's 83rd play from scrimmage (Konawaena ran 123 plays).

"I just can't say enough about how they just kept playing and playing and playing and didn't give up," coach Tihada said, who credited his team's ability to finish Saturday to its offseason training regimen.

"The whole team has been working out since January. They've been doing their speed and quickness and getting into the weight room, so coming into the season we knew that we were in a lot better shape than most teams."

In addition to building stamina, Tihada said the workouts have helped to build mental toughness in his players.

"Definitely, but I think that comes down to the year-long preparation of working so hard in the offseason that mentally you develop this ‘refuse-to-lose attitude' and I think that's what carried our team so far," he said.

The younger Tihada also had a strong showing in Lahainaluna's semifinal win over Iolani two weeks ago, when he carried 29 times for 167 yards and three TDs.

"He's very, very competitive and he definitely wants the ball when it counts, but I think it's his competitive spirit above anything else that helps him be successful," coach Tihada said. "I think he basically epitomizes what our whole team is about: hard-working, discipline athlete that just has a big, big heart. A lot of our kids are like that."

The Lunas have won D2 state championships in each of Joshua Tihada's first two varsity seasons. His growth since last year was but one of the factors that helped them retain the title this year.

"He learned a lot in the last couple of years, from playing with the big boys to now, and understanding how to read his blocks a lot better and being patient — because he's not the fastest guy on the field — but he reads his blocks very well and he's very patient," coach Tihada said.


Female Athlete of the Week:
Kaimi Kalei, Saint Francis basketball
Kaimi Kalei and the Saint Francis girls basketball team have gotten off to a nice start to the 2017-'18 season.

The 5-foot-5 senior guard scored a game-high 21 points Saturday to lead the Saints to a 56-41 win over Sacred Hearts, lifting their record to 3-0 in the preseason.

Kalei shot 50 percent (8 of 16) from the field and was 5 of 8 from the free-throw line. She also grabbed seven rebounds — four of them on the offensive glass — to go with two assists, two steals and a block.

"When she has confidence she can do pretty much anything, but this, by far, I thought was one of her overall best games in four years. She put everything together," Saint Francis coach Chris Hoe said of Kalei, who also scored 11 points with two rebounds in a 57-52 win over McKinley Thursday night.

Hoe described Kalei as a combo-guard — "she's versatile and because she has good size, she can post up other guards " — whose importance to the team goes beyond the numbers.

"I feel like she's a leader on the court. She's one of the unselfish players. She tries to get her teammates the ball, but she can also take over a game if she needs to," Hoe said.

While Hoe knows all too well Kalei's capabilities, even he was surprised by the final statistics.

"I didn't really think she had all those stats, but when she's on a roll, she's on a roll and that night she was very consistent," said Hoe, who also praised Kalei's ball-handling in the win.

"She did a good job handling the pressure more, and for me, that's really key because if you don't have a person to handle the ball it's hard to run your offense."

Kalei transferred to Saint Francis from Mid-Pacific after the eighth grade. She had to sit out her freshman season due to league transfer rules — although she was able to participate in the state tournament that year — and has been in the starting lineup ever since.

"She's come a really long way from when she was a freshman to now," Hoe said. "A lot of what we had to work with her on was her shooting form and ball-handling, but now I feel her game is really complete."

Hoe counts Kalei amongst a trio of seniors expected to provide leadership this season.

"Her, Skye Ah Yat and Misiona Ribeiro, the three of them are the core of the team that has stayed together the four years," Hoe said. "I expect them to be leaders on the court and off. Their work ethic is very good. They work harder than most girls, so it shows that they want to improve."

While the Saints compete in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's Division II ranks, all three of their wins in the preseason have come against D1 competition.

"It's definitely a great confidence-booster," Hoe said. "It's something to look back at and remember that we can play this way against every team we go against."

Hoe hopes his team can ride the momentum of the win over the Lancers.

"They're a good team and they bring back a pretty strong core, so that was a pretty big win. To be honest, me and my assistant expected to lose by double digits, so hopefully we keep working hard. They've been putting in the work and they're all committed and the girls have bought into our system finally," Hoe said.

Kalei and the Saints will continue their preseason when they take on Molokai Friday, before facing Kauai and Moanalua Saturday.


FOOTBALL

Seau Amor, Konawaena — Made eight tackles in a loss to Lahainaluna

Kaleo Apao, Hilo — Threw for 134 yards and two touchdowns on 8-of-13 passing and rushed 20 times for 98 yards and another score in a win over Damien

Micah Banagan-Brock, Konawaena — Made 11 tackles, including 1 1/2 sacks, in a loss to Lahainaluna

Micah Bello, Hilo — Made nine tackles and forced a fumble in a win over Damien

Chance Beyer, Saint Louis — Caught nine passes for 96 yards in a win over Kahuku

William Kai Bookland, Lahainaluna — Caught three passes for 117 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Konawaena

Kaihulali Casco, Lahainaluna — Made 10 tackles and broke up a pass in a win over Konawaena

Chevan Cordeiro, Saint Louis — Threw for 440 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions on 30-of-44 passing and rushed 20 times for 19 yards in a win over Kahuku

Austin Ewing, Konawaena — Threw for 266 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions on 33-of-55 passing and rushed 25 times for 68 yards with two other scores in a loss to Lahainaluna

Lauina Falatea, Kahuku — Made four tackles, including two sacks, and forced a fumble in a loss to Saint Louis

Marcus Faufata-Pedrina, Damien — Threw for 172 yards with a touchdown and one interception on 15-of-32 passing and rushed 13 times for 27 yards and another score in a loss to Hilo

Siale Hafoka, Lahainaluna — Made 10 tackles in a win over Konawaena

Harry Hill, Konawaena — Converted field goals of 25 and 32 yards and made seven of his eight extra point attempts in a loss to Lahainaluna

Kahale Huddleston, Hilo — Carried 19 times for 91 yards with two touchdowns and caught four passes for 54 yards in a win over Damien

Nainoa Irish, Lahainaluna — Threw for 188 yards and three touchdowns on 6-of-7 passing and rushed 13 times for 25 yards in a win over Konawaena

Shiloh Kaeo, Damien — Made 9 1/2 tackles, including one for loss, in a loss to Hilo

Kaonohi Kaniho, Kahuku — Made nine tackles and caught two passes for 69 yards with a touchdown in a loss to Saint Louis

Tyler Libarios, Konawaena — Caught nine passes for 94 yards and a touchdown in a loss to Lahainaluna

Sol-Jay Maiava, Kahuku — Threw for 252 yards with four touchdowns and one interception on 17-of-28 passing and rushed 14 times for 94 yards in a loss to Saint Louis

Chauncey Mariani-Louis, Konawaena — Rushed 42 times for 191 yards with four touchdowns and caught 11 passes for 58 yards and another score in a loss to Lahainaluna

Elijah Moritz, Lahainaluna — Made nine tackles, forced a fumble and broke up a pass in a win over Konawaena

Elijah Oliveira-Kalalau, Lahainaluna — Made 7 1/2 tackles, including four sacks, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and broke up a pass in a win over Konawaena

Jonah Panoke, Saint Louis — Caught eight passes for 152 yards and a touchdown in a win over Kahuku

Noa Purcell, Saint Louis — Made 11 tackles, including one for loss, and broke up a pass in a win over Saint Louis

Mitchell Quinn, Saint Louis — Caught five passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Kahuku

Pablo Rico, Lahainaluna — Converted field goals of 43 and 27 yards and was 9 of 9 on PAT attempts in a win over Konawaena

Isaiah Tufaga, Saint Louis — Made seven tackles and scored on a 40-yard interception return in a win over Kahuku

Faatui Tuitele, Saint Louis — Made three tackles, including two sacks, in a win over KAhuku


GIRLS BASKETBALL

Sydney Faumuina, Kapolei — Scored 18 points in a loss to Roosevelt

Trinidee Kahunahana, Kaiser — Scored 16 points in a win over Pearl City

Kloe Lum, McKinley — Scored 17 points with one rebound, one assist and a steal in a loss to Saint Francis

Dallas Martinez, Sacred Hearts — Scored 20 points with 15 rebounds, five assists, four steals and a block in a win over Moanalua and scored 20 points with six rebounds, two assists and a steal in a loss to Saint Francis

Kayla Nguyen, La Pietra — Scored 22 points in a win over Lanakila Baptist

Alyssa Oshita, Pearl City — Scored 19 points in a win over La Pietra

Samantha Pollard, Kalaheo — Scored 17 points in a loss to Damien

Celestina Iupeli Sagapolutele, Saint Francis — Scored 18 points with seven rebounds in a win over McKinley

Nani Santos, Saint Francis — Scored 16 points with three rebounds and a block in a win over McKinley

Ashlyn Velasco, Kapolei — Scored 18 points in a win over Kailua



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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