Na Alii, Trojans post big soccer victories

By Fred Guzman

All four teams involved desperately needed to win their respective MIL boys soccer matches yesterday.

When all was said and done, King Kekaulike and St. Anthony emerged with huge victories while Seabury Hall and Maui High suffered key setbacks.

Bouncing back from a slow start to its season, King Kekaulike routed upcountry rival Seabury Hall 4-0 in Olinda, improving to 5-3 overall for 15 points and moving to within one point of idle Division-I leader Lahainaluna.

Na Alii scored all of its goals in the first half, with Kaimana Purdy, Logan Bantilan, Taylor DeGuerra and Brison Ino finding the back of the net within the opening 30 minutes of action.

Later at War Memorial Stadium, first-half goals by Chris and Gerry Maeda lifted St. Anthony to a 2-0 victory over Maui High.

St. Anthony improved to 4-5 for 12 points and a three-point lead over Seabury in the D-II standings. Maui High fell 3-3-2 for 11 points and finds itself four points behind the Lunas in the D-I standings.

In girls action last night, Maui High beat St. Anthony 4-0 on goals by Chelsey Calvert, Rachel Rivas, Tiana Lucas and Shauni Okazaki.

PREP HOOPS: The MIL girls’ basketball tournaments tip off semifinal action tonight with three games in two divisions at the Kamehameha-Maui gym.

At 4 p.m., Seabury Hall will tangle with Lanai in a Division-II game. The winner will face regular-season champion Molokai High in Friday’s D-II title game at 5:30.

In Division-I action, top-seeded Lahainaluna will meet Kamehameha-Maui at 5:30.

The Lunas are the state’s fourth-ranked team and have not been remotely tested so far in MIL competition. Kamehameha earned a berth in the semis by beating Baldwin 37-27 behind a 12-point effort from Tori Cambra.

At 7 o’clock, King Kekaulike and Maui High will meet in the other semifinal. Kekaulike finished second to the Lunas in the regular-season standings.

The D-I title game is set for 7 p.m. tomorrow.