Justin Keiley shares lead

League champion one of three players at 71 after first round


LIHUE — After a chip-in eagle from 35 yards out on his final hole, Baldwin High School sophomore Justin Keiley found himself tied for the lead going into today’s final round of the David S. Ishii Foundation Boys Golf State Championships.

Keiley, a 5-foot-9, 140-pound 15-year-old and this year’s Maui Interscholastic League champion, was tied with two other golfers at 1-under-par 71 at Wailua Municipal Golf Course.

The MIL runner-up Bears were at 312, tied for fifth place in the team standings, but only three shots out of second. MIL champion St. Anthony was in eighth place at 318.

Defending champion Punahou had a comfortable lead after a 294, 15 shots in front of Iolani. The Buffanblu’s Alex Ching carded a 71, as did Alika Bell of Kamehameha Oahu.

Keiley started on the back nine and played it in even par, with a birdie at No. 13 and a bogey at 15. His front nine was more adventurous, with a birdie at No. 4 sandwiched by bogeys at 3 and 5.

He finished his day in dramatic fashion.

‘‘I was, like, 35 yards in front of the green on the left side of the fairway,’’ Keiley said. ‘‘I just flopped it over the bunkers and it rolled in. When I hit it, it came off the club face really nice and soft. If it didn’t go in, it probably would have been, like, a foot away. It just rolled up there really soft.’’

Keiley said he has been playing some of his best golf recently and the confidence he gained from running away with the MIL individual crown a couple of weeks ago has carried over into the state tournament.

‘‘At the MIL first round I chipped in from 25 yards — on number 14 at Kaanapali Kai when I shot 70,’’ he said. ‘‘I only three-putted once today, on number 3. I missed, like, two birdie putts I should have had, but I had tap-in pars. I missed a few on the back and three-putted once on the front, but that is good for me.

‘‘Those four (MIL) rounds, I don’t know, I just played really well. I just changed some stuff in my stance and now I feel real comfortable with what I am doing right now.’’

The Bears’ Jonathan Keiley shot a 75, Casey Munetake and Aaron Villanova had 83s and Mitchell Kwee added an 84. The alternate was Joshua Hemans (79).

Justin Keiley said a state individual title is possible.

‘‘I am just going to go out there and play my game and not worry about anybody else and what they are doing,’’ he said.

Baldwin coach Buff Burton said his team will have a tough time trying to catch Punahou, but a second-place trophy is not out of the realm of possibility.

‘‘I would have liked to see it a little lower, who wouldn’t?’’ he said. ‘‘I am not satisfied, but I am happy for the kids. The round Justin shot, unbelievable. He has the game, though, so he is capable of it. A state title is possible if he shoots what he shot today.’’

St. Anthony coach David Gerken said his team could also move into title contention. Taeksoo Kim, the 2007 MIL individual champion, led the Trojans with a 75, Alex Wong was at 76, Kendrick Dumo 83 and Andrew Wong 84.

‘‘It is kind of long, but not too windy — it was playing pretty fair,’’ Gerken said of the conditions. ‘‘The greens firmed up and I think maybe they double-cut them. The pins were in tough locations. We have the best players in the state and just one group of them is under par. Everyone was expecting someone to be in the 60s, but it was a little tougher than people imagined.

‘‘We feel we can shoot around 300 tomorrow — everyone on our team can shoot 75 here, no doubt,’’ Gerken said. ‘‘That is easier said than done, but if we shoot around 300, I’m sure we can leapfrog a lot of teams.’’

Eric Emmel of Lahainaluna shot a 75, Ken Takushi of Maui High had a 77 and Andrew Kunitomo of Kamehameha Maui and Alex Omer of Seabury Hall each carded 79s. The other MIL golfers at the tournament were Kamehameha Maui’s Kelii Dias (80) and Kamalu Kaina (83), Lanai’s Garrick Pagay (86) and Seabury Hall’s Darren Fryer (87).

DAVID S. ISHII FOUNDATION BOYS?GOLF?STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Tuesday’s First Round At Wailua Municipal Golf Course

A. Bell, Kamehameha Oahu 38-33—71

Justin Keiley, Baldwin 35-36—71

Alex Ching, Punahou 34-37—71

Matt Kitamori, Waiakea 35-37—72

Levi Miyashiro, Kauai 35-38—73

B. Shigezawa, Punahou 36-37—73

John David Nako, Punahou 39-35—74

Jared Sawada, Mililani 38-36—74

TJ Kua, Kamehameha Oahu 38-36—74

David Saka, Moanalua 38-37—75

R. Yoshida, Hawaii Baptist 39-36—75

Cory Oride, Kauai 41-34—75

Eric Emmel, Lahainaluna 37-38—75

Joshua Hemens, Baldwin 35-40—75

Andrea Topping, Kapolei 36-39—75

Taeksoo Kim, St. Anthony 37-38—75

David Fink, Iolani 37-38—75

M. Obrero, Hawaii Baptist 36-39—75

Jonathan Keiley, Baldwin 39-36—75

Alexander Chu, Maryknoll 39-37—76

Bradley Yosaitis, Punahou 35-41—76

Alex Wong, St. Anthony 37-39—76

Nick Kim, Kaiser 36-40—76

Ken Takushi, Maui High 37-40—77

Corey Kozuma, Iolani 38-39—77

N. Calip, KS-Hawaii 42-35—77

Robb Inouye, Iolani 38-39—77

Raymond Fortucci, Kahuku 38-39—77

Steve Kim, Pearl City 37-41—78

Oliver Lam, McKinley 39-39—78

Evan Nagano, Pearl City 39-39—78

Marc Arakaki, Kalani 40-39—79

A. Kunitomo, KS Maui 40-39—79

Wiley Yoshioka, Kauai 39-40—79

Alex Omer, Seabury Hall 41-38—79

Dalen Yamauchi, Waiakea 39-40—79

Reo Saito, Iolani 39-41—80

Riley Alcos, Makua Lani 41-39—80

Ty Miyashita, Waiakea 39-41—80

Kelii Dias, KS-Maui 39-41—80

Colton Knedler, Punahou 42-38—80

Daniel Koge, Waiakea 42-38—80

Tyler Ota, Moanalua 38-42—80

Bou An Fujieki, Punahou 40-40—80

Hermie Rafol, Kealakehe 39-41—80

Zakry Akagi-Bustin, Leilehua 42-38—80

Cyrus Ogawa, Kula 40-41—81

Christian Agosto, Moanalua 39-42—81

N. Olinski, Honolulu Waldorf 39-42—81

T. Yamashita, KS Oahu 41-40—81

T. Sonomura, Hawaii Baptist 40-41—81

Anson Almeida, Hilo 40-42—82

David Maedonochi, Kahuku 41-41—82

Kenji Ackert, Kealakehe 42-40—82

Robert Konecne, Radford 39-43—82

Thayer Schmitz, St. Louis 42-40—82

Ken Oyadomari, Hilo 38-44—82

Bryson Watabu, Aiea 44-39—83

Aaron Villanova, Baldwin 41-42—83

Wyan Vong, Kaiser 39-44—83

Drake Akiyoshi, Mililani 43-40—83

Kendrick Dumo, St. Anthony 41-42—83

Kasey Munetake, Baldwin 39-44—83

Ian Murashige, Waiakea 43-40—83

M. Cockett, KS Hawaii 40-43—83

Kamalu Kaina, KS Maui 43-40—83

Mitchell Kwee, Baldwin 43-41—84

Andrew Wong, St. Anthony 44-40—84

Jeremy Bac, Maryknoll 41-43—84

Ryne Mizushima, Kalani 41-43—84

Grant Paiste, Waimea 43-41—84

R. Collins, Hawaii Baptist 39-45—84

Alex Chiya, Roosevelt 44-40—84

Branden Nakahara, Waipahu 41-44—85

T. Shimomura, Moanalua 39-46—85

Taylor Bell, Kauai 40-45—85

Ty Yasuda, Moanalua 43-42—85

Jordan Oda, Kauai 40-45—85

Reece Yamada, Kapolei 42-43—85

Kyle Furusho, Kauai 45-40—85

Keenan Lum, KS-Oahu 43-42—85

Justin Nishida, Kailua 44-42—86

Garrick Pagay, Lanai 45-41—86

Nicholas Cristobal, Leilehua 44-42—86

M. Warnecke, Makua Lani 42-44—86

Michael Carlos, Honokaa 40-47—87

Zack Ferrer, Campbell 45-42—87

Darren Fryer, Seabury Hall 45-42—87

Mitchell Keep, Kauai 45-43—88

Casey Arakaki, Moanalua 43-45—88

Keith Wong, Maryknoll 44-44—88

Ty Nakatani, Radford 43-45—88

Blair Freitas, KS Oahu 45-43—88

Josh Rivera, Pearl City 44-44—88

CJ Fernandez, St. Anthony 43-45—88

Ryan Kuroiwa, Aiea 39-49—88

Matthew Kim, University 42-46—88

Jason Tanaka, Maryknoll 45-44—89

Ryan Marvick, Kealakehe 44-45—89

Jeffrey Steen, Mililani 43-46—89

Mitchell Chun, Waianae 46-43—89

Lance Tsunoda, Roosevelt 47-42—89

Randy Yoneishi, Waiakea 45-45—90

Keoni Lorenzo, Leilehua 45-45—90

Aaron Ogura, Mililani 44-46—90

Matt Milton, Hanalani 48-43—91

Nicholas Nakamura, Mililani 47-44—91

Damon Fuentes, Campbell 44-47—91

J. Salomon, Hawaii Prep 45-46—91

Ben Greenwell, Konawaena 45-47—92

Paul Shoji, Punahou 45-47—92

Blaine Fujimoto, Castle 46-46—92

Allen Koerte, Kauai 50-42—92

Jordan Lerma, KS Hawaii 45-49—94

C. Yamane, Mid-Pacific Inst. 44-50—94

Casey Tamura, Waiakea 50-45—95

Nickolas Ha, Kalani 49-47—96

B. Maluenda, Campbell 49-48—97

Kaliloa Lee Loy, KS Hawaii 53-46—99

S. Voravonseng, McKinley 53-54—107