Baldwin High School’s boys and girls bowling teams defeated Kamehameha Maui on Oct. 22 at the Maui Bowling Center, sending the Bears’ boys team to the state championship.

“We didn’t do the best we possibly could have, but I think we played okay as a team. We had the odds stacked against us, and we tried our best to beat those odds,” junior Kayce Mercado said.

Baldwin’s boys team won 3-0, and their girls team won 2-1 against the Warriors. Despite their loss, the Kamehameha Maui girls team had already qualified for the state championship, along with junior Aisake Fakava, who qualified individually for the boys during the season.

“As a team we have just improved, so it’s nice to see our hard work just come together in the end, so we can go to states,” senior Emily “Haʻehaʻe” Kāne said.

The Baldwin boys won the first game 693-633, while their girls won 658-644.

The Baldwin boys continued their winning streak with a 695-620 win of the second game, and the Baldwin girls won as well, 660-652.

However, the Warrior girls won the final game, 673-633, while the boys lagged behind and lost 728-595.

Kamehameha Maui’s coach Rodney Carillo said that he believed that the boys could have come out victorious, but he said that they did the best they could under the circumstances.

“We had issues with AP (Academic Probation), so that hurt us because our best player couldn’t play. But you know, they still had a great season,” he said. He said that next year the boys can improve by listening to and applying the coaching.

Over the past three years, Baldwin High School and Kamehameha Maui have had a history of exchanging the Maui Interscholastic League title between the boys teams. In 2014, the Bears took home the title, and last year the Warriors came out on top. As this season comes to an end, and the girls head to the state championship, there is much to look forward to next year as the rivalry continues.

Gallery • 6 Photos

Photo by Riann Fujihara

Moani-Keala Shimada practices during warm-ups before the first game.