During all the cloudless days that became fixtures in East Hawaii earlier this year, Waiakea High tennis coach Bill Brilhante did not need sunglasses to see the horizon.
It was a question of when, not whether, the poorly agreed rain came to flush games away.
“Every year it’s like that,” he said. “You have the most beautiful weather all the way up to the first game of the season, and all of a sudden it changes.”
The undefeated Warriors match Friday against Hilo High was a no, while Monday against Keaau was a go. Saturday’s upcoming home game against Hawaii Prep was a yes, so a maybe, and in the end, Waiakea got inventive to make it happen.
HPA had already been given the green light at. 7:15 and was on his way to Hilo when the heavens opened. The Warriors asked HPA to turn their bus around, and Plan B encouraged the tennis team to go to Waimea on one of the buses that Waiakea’s athletics and softball teams needed to get to HPA for their BIIF competitions.
“The bus never came,” Brilhante said.
Enter plan C.
“The only thing we could do is see which parents were nearby,” he said. “Luckily, we had three parents with vans or minivans, so the two coaches and three parents took the team (18 players) up to Waimea.”
The caravaning Warriors were immune to the elements inside HPA’s Rutgers Tennis Center, even though the weather outside had not improved that much.
“We could hear the wind howling outside,” Brilhante said. “I loved athletics and softball.”
In a match between BIIF’s only undefeated, Waiakea’s boys and girls each won 5-0, and none of the Warriors’ four singles players – No. 1 Paul Brilhante and Jade Brilhante and No. 2 Iori Furuhata and Jada Igawa – lost. a fight . In No. 2 doubles, Michael Nakano and Rhys Wilson, and Lisa Miyazaki and Haley Teramoto each won in three sets.
“(HPA) stacked their doubles team so singles were not really competitive,” Brilhante said. “We were lucky to get to the top in some challenging doubles matches.
“It was the most competitive match we played this season. It was good, it prepared us well for Hilo.”
The Warriors hope to play against the Vikings on Tuesday, but that is of course weather dependent.
On a cloudy Monday, the Waiakea girls beat the Cougars 5-0 and the boys won 4-1. Each team has a record of 7-0 this season, and the girls’ character becomes more impressive by the fact that together they are 35-0 in singles and doubles matches. Tandemers Kiora Kunimoto and Chloe Takahashi, and Kate Newell and Jessie Higa are also undefeated, as are Paul Brilhante, Furuhata and three boys’ doubles teams: Wilson / Nakano, Maika Nucci and Bruin Yomono, and Dayne Kunimoto and Reyn Funai.
Waiakea swept the team titles in 2019, but Brilhante does not take anything for granted. He expects teams to throw him a few basket balls at the team championships.
“The way you put the line-ups up is difficult, you can never say what the other team is going to do,” Brilhante said. “They could put their best players down the ranks.
“If everyone went straight up, I think we have by far the deepest team. But tennis is about matchups, and you never know.”
Saturday
Boys
Waiakea 5, Hawaii Preparation 0
Singles
Paul Brilhante def. Chaz Fitzgerald, 6-0, 6-0
Iori Furuhata def. Zachery Lieberman, 6-0, 6-0
Double
Bruin Yomono / Maika Nucci def. Zeke Sarosi / Edoardo Greco, 6-0, 6-3
Michael Nakano / Rhys Wilson def. Neil Steinvorth / Parker Smith, 6-0, 6-7 (5), 10-5
Reyn Funai / Dayne Kunimoto def. Shuntaro Hori / Rin Motoki, 6-4. 6-1
Kealakehe 3, Hilo 2
Singles
Hunter Felte, Kealakehe, def. Kai Chun, Hilo, 6-0, 6-0
Keoni Roth, Kealakehe, def. Aiden Carvalho-Fukunaga, Hilo, 6-2, 6-1
Double
Jake Tokuuke / Jonathan Okamura, Hilo, def. Eunjun (Roy) Shin / Raphael Gadot, Kealakehe, 6-3, 6-1
Hamilton Jackson / Patrick Overholt, Kealakehe, def. Jarick Alba-Kuwahara / Eli Yamaki, Hilo, 6-2, 6-3
Kensuke Panek / Brendan Inaba, Hilo, wins by default
Parker 5, Makua Lani 0
Singles
Lucas Koranda def. Cody Baker, 7-5, 6-3
Everett Gordon def. Calvin Brown, 6-2, 6-1
Double
Logan Kidani / Owen Leonard def. John David Gallagher / Cody Smith, 6-0, 6-0
Kyle Groves / JC Montenegro wins by default
Matt Shemwell / Khoki Miyazaki wins by default
Girls
Waiakea 5, HPA 0
Singles
Jade Brilhante def. Sydney Chin, 6-0, 6-0
Jada Igawa def. Taina Seward, 6-0, 6-0
Double
Kiora Kunimoto / Chloe Takahashi def. Emilia Tretau / Arabella Asuncion, 6-3, 6-2
Lisa Miyazaki / Haley Teramoto def. Arabella Asuncion / Tiana Edwards, 4-6, 6-3, 10-6
Kate Newell / Jessie Higa def. Tiffany Golden / Catherine Hulugalle, 6-2, 7-4
Hilo 5, Kealakehe 0
Singles
Kaylee Yamada def. Maile-Lei Ji, 3-6, 6-4, 10-5
Mahealani “Mahea” Gomes def. Kayleigh Tatum (Tate) Arias, 6-1, 7-6 (4)
Double
Urumi Furuhata / Liliaonalani “Lilia” Icari def. Yukari (Mai) Eckert / Sabrina Lelm, 6-2, 6-0
Annika Lee / Marissa Dodo def. Sophia Weir / Jazlynn Nazaire, 7-6 (6), 6-2
Karissa Lee / Paige Masulit def. Karissa Lee / Paige Masulit, 6-1, 6-2
Parker 3, Makua Lani 0
Singles
Kaya Long, Parker, def. Aliyah Richert, Makua Lani, 6-0, 6-0
Rebecca Tang, Parker, def. Siu Jeong, Makua Lani, 6-3, 7-5
Double
Maddie Weigle / Sophie Weigle, Parker, def. Milena Freire / Mikella Chang, 6-1, 6-2
Trinity Brown / Lizbeth Avendano, Makua Lani, def. Jennifer Koranda / Emily Atkins, 6-1, 6-2