PO‘IPU — Amidst cheering from the Casa Blanca balcony seating and from the mid-court seating, Kaua‘i’s team of Jerik Centeno and Matthew Kanna upset the Kaua‘i team of B.J. Kai and Otis Llewellyn, 6-4, 6-4 to take the Boys Doubles
PO‘IPU — Amidst cheering from the Casa Blanca balcony seating and from the mid-court seating, Kaua‘i’s team of Jerik Centeno and Matthew Kanna upset the Kaua‘i team of B.J. Kai and Otis Llewellyn, 6-4, 6-4 to take the Boys Doubles trophy, Friday at the Kiahuna Tennis Club in Po‘ipu.
The Centeno/Kanna duo was the only upset of the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation finals as the second-seeded team defeated its top-seeded opponent.
“It’s alright,” said Centeno’s dad from the luxury of a shaded area of the rapidly-warming court. “They’re both going to Maui for the states, and Jerik said earlier in the season, they were going to beat No. 1. Today, they beat No. 1, but they really wanted the Island School team of Jeremy Randolph-Flagg and Logan Domingo to go to Maui with them.”
Randolph-Flagg, a victim of a three-set loss in the semis, was in the audience, cheering on not only Centeno and Kanna, but the Island School duo of Madison Duarte and Meghan Perius, the No. 1 seed in Girls Doubles who took on No. 2, Kaua‘i’s Shay Orial and Jennifer Grady.
As Randolph-Flagg alternated his attention between the courts, Duarte and Perius took care of business with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Orial and Grady for the Girls Doubles title.
Kaua‘i’s Sarah Kukino, the top seed in the Girls Singles arena, had her toughest match of the two-day tournament against second-seeded Lani Rae Green of Waimea.
Both combatants faced their toughest matches, but as the thermometer climbed in the Po‘ipu sun, Kukino pulled ahead toward her 6-2, 6-1 victory over Green for her fourth KIF victory.
Kapa‘a’s Chas Okamoto, the No. 1 seed in the Boys Singles bracket, faced No. 2 Sam Dunham of Island School for the finals, the third time the pair met in the KIF finals, Dunham’s only absence coming when he played doubles one year.
The testament to both players’ abilities showed in the final score when Okamoto locked up his fourth KIF title with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Dunham. Like the girls, it was the toughest match each played in the tournament.
With the victories in hand, all finalists in the Boys Singles, Boys Doubles, Girls Singles and Girls Doubles will make plans to participate in the 2011 Carl Smith Ball Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Tennis Championships at the Royal Lahaina and Lahaina Civic Center on Maui, May 5 through 7.
