In a season turned topsy-turvy with events away from the pool, it was the consistency of the Kahuku girls water polo team that led it to another league title.

Kahuku defeated Roosevelt, 9-4, yesterday at the Central O'ahu Regional Park for its sixth O'ahu Interscholastic Association championship.

The Red Raiders, who have not lost a league match in all six seasons of OIA girls water polo except for a fluke forfeit, overcame a team accident when their bus flipped over and rolled into a ditch in Waikane last month.

"I think it made us appreciate each other," Kahuku senior goalkeeper Ella Aiwohi said. "We valued all of our teammates because some of them are not playing anymore."

Freshman Brooke Roy scored four goals and senior Gina Ahue added three for the Red Raiders (16-0).

"(The accident) definitely bonds our team," Roy said. "We got over it pretty fast. It made us tougher for whatever could come at us."

Yesterday's match started with a 1-1 tie at the end of the first quarter on goals by Ahue and Roosevelt's Taesha-Marie Keola.

But three goals by Roy and another by Minnie Whitford in the second quarter gave Kahuku a 5-1 halftime lead.

"Coach gave us a talk about how we needed to bring it," Roy said. "And we all knew we needed to bring our game up."

Roy scored her first from 6 meters out with 6:27 left, her second with 3:51 to go after her pass was knocked in the air and she chased it down and shot it past a stunned Rough Riders' goalkeeper, and her third from in front of the goal with 1:05 remaining. Whitford scored with 4:38 left on assists from Tahnei Roy and Ahue.

Kahuku and Roosevelt (13-3) each scored in the third quarter. Roy scored with 6:43 left on a fast break that was answered by Roosevelt's Jennifer Honda with 18 seconds left on a one-on-one with Aiwohi to make it 6-2 Kahuku.

It was an entertaining fourth quarter with back-and-forth scoring.

Kahuku's Ahue scored on an assist from Roy with 4:27 left as the shot clock expired to put the Red Raiders up 7-2.

"I think making the (scoring) gap bigger made us calm down," Ahue said. "We didn't make the bad passes and we played our game instead of getting nervous."

Roosevelt's Leticia Ruiz scored with 2:27 left on a transition play but Ahue answered with her third goal 18 seconds later.

The Rough Riders closed to 8-4 on a Pearl Yun goal that she lofted into the left corner with 1:18 to go before Tahnei Roy finished the scoring with 51 seconds left in the match.

"We weren't putting away our shots," Roosevelt coach Sue Nishioka said. "I think our shooting percentage was about 10 percent. It doesn't help that Ella is a good goalie."

Kahuku first-year coach Makana Whitford showed her inexperience by forgetting to remove her cell phone before getting dunked by her players after the match.

"The game was alright, but they could have done a lot better," Whitford said. "(The accident) brought us closer together. It motivated the players, who believed that not even a bus accident could stop us."

Reach Leila Wai at 535-2457 or lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.

BIIF WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIP

YESTERDAY

NAE'OLE POOL

At Kamehameha

HILO 1 2 0 3—6

KAMEHAMEHA 3 2 3 1—9

Goal scorers — Kam: Kirsten Davis, 5; Kaci Rosehill, 3; Ryenn Lyons, 1. Hilo: Hannah Bennett, 1; Nina Jeffrey, 1; Eva Avery, 1; Lauren Van Heukelem, 1; Sondra Atagi, 1; Claire Montgomery, 1.

Goalie saves — Kam: Kacie Davis, 5. Hilo: Heather Kaikuana, 6.