Maui High junior Jacob Davis brought home the school's first bowling title and Kapolei senior Cherish Saunders returned the trophy to the Hurricanes at the state bowling championships yesterday.

Both won for the first time, and Mililani won its first state bowling titles, sweeping the boys and girls team championships, at the HHSAA/Billy Tees Bowling State Championships at Fort Shafter Bowling Center. The two-day, three-session, nine-game event concluded yesterday, with the top 15 boys and girls receiving medals.

Davis knocked down 1,792 pins, to beat out Mililani's Shaun Hamamura (1,777) and 'Aiea's Shane Dagdag (1,775).

Davis, the first individual from the Valley Isle to win a state title and the first from the island to win a bowling trophy since Baldwin did it in 1979, took advantage of a huge improvement in bowling centers. Fort Shafter was a drastic change from the 10-lane Maui Bowling Center, which "is not that good," Davis said.

Davis averaged 178 entering the championships, but averaged 199.1 the past two days.

"Coming here, I knew I was going to bowl better," he said.

Davis said he realized he won the title only when he heard the name of the second-place finisher, especially after rolling a 155 in his final game — his second lowest score of the tournament.

"I was nervous the whole time," Davis said. "In the (last) game, I was thinking too much about my high score, about getting the high 700 series, and it threw me off."

After bowling a tournament-low 144 in his second game Thursday, Davis thought his chances would be in jeopardy. But he discovered he wasn't too far back, and when he was paired with then-leader Kean Hangai of Mililani, "I was able to gauge myself off of him," said Davis, who finished the first two sessions (six games) in third.

Like Davis, Saunders started off strong after the first day, positioning herself in second place, but said being near the top made her nervous.

"I knew I had to stay focused," she said. "People from school to here were telling me this was my year, to not let anyone take it away from me."

She scored 1,753 to edge McKinley's Elyse Takashige (1,743). Leilehua's Jennifer Boiselle, the leader after the first two sessions, finished third with 1,683.

"It's a rush," said Saunders, the fourth Kapolei girl to win the individual title in the past five years. "You don't believe it until you hear your name being called."

She dedicated the win to her grandparents, Herman and Lei Kila, who helped her get started in bowling. Saunders finished fifth her freshman and sophomore years, but took last year off after her grandmother died.

"I wish she could have been here; I know she's here, but just not physically," Saunders said. "She used to tell me to go out there and have fun, and always smile, which I did today."

The Mililani boys tallied 8,373 pins, followed by Punahou with 8,185, and Hawai'i Baptist with 8,140.

The Trojans, led by Hamamura's second-place finish, also consisted of Hangai, Raymond Allen, Kyle Rzonca, Keene Inafuku, Bryson Pearson and Kyle Kageno.

"I'm really happy for both of us," Hamamura said of the school's sweep. "Coming into states, we knew we had one of the best teams, and we needed to make sure we concentrated as a team to win."

The Mililani girls rolled 7,619 pins. Pearl City was second with 7,465, and 'Aiea third with 7,369.

Mililani sophomore Diana Ishida was the team's top finisher in 11th with 1,588. Other team members were Stacey Shigekane, Jamie Lara, Darrolyn Gasper, Jacqueline Lara, Jaycie Okata and Tamara Stephens.

"It feels pretty great, because we didn't do it before," Ishida said. "We actually made history today."

BOYS

TEAM

1, Mililani 8,373. 2, Punahou 8,185. 3, Hawai'i Baptist 8,140. 4, 'Aiea 8,105. 5, Waiakea 7,992. 6, Hilo 7,853. 7, Roosevelt 7,624. 8, Kalani 7,553. 9, Maui 7,244. 10, Kaua'i 7,226.

INDIVIDUAL

1, Jacob Davis (Maui) 1,792. 2, Shaun Hamamura (Mili) 1,777. 3, Shane Dagdag (Aiea) 1,775. 4, Tyler Wong (Puna) 1,761. 5, Nathan Smith (Keala) 1,753. 6, Gilbert Santos (PC) 1,738. 7, James Pirtle (PC) 1,718. 8, Peter Mochizuki (HBA) 1,710. 9, Reilly Park (Puna) 1,706. 10, Michael Ciano (Puna) 1,689. 11, Aaron Cacho (Hilo) 1,672. 12, Ethan Kawada (HBA) 1,671. 13, Kyle Kamegawa (Mary) 1,669. 14, Justin Kanda (Roos) 1,660. 15, Ray Takara (Kalan) 1,650. 16, Dalton Izumo (Waiak) 1,649. 17 (tie), Kean Hangai (Mili), Chad Tanimoto (Waip) 1,649. 19, Micah Seki (Dam) 1,637. 20 (tie), Kyle Kakinami (Roos), Shaun Primacio (Aiea) 1,634. 22, Billy Viduya (Waip) 1,626. 23, Kendal Tanigawa (UHS) 1,625. 24, Raymond Allen (Mili) 1,616. 25, Larry Ishimine (KS) 1,612.

GIRLS

TEAM

1, Mililani 7,619. 2, Pearl City 7,465. 3, 'Aiea 7,369. 4, Kalani 7,257. 5, McKinley 7,082. 6, Hilo 7,032. 7, Hawai'i Baptist 7,029. 8, Mid-Pacific 7,026. 9, Waiakea 6,922. 10, Baldwin 6,712. 11, Kapa'a 6,206.

INDIVIDUAL

1, Cherish Saunders (Kap) 1,753. 2, Elyse Takashige (McK) 1,743. 3, Jennifer Boiselle (Lei) 1,683. 4, Suzana Signaigo (STA) 1,662. 5, Seiko Santos (PC) 1,655. 6, Faye Castillo (Mary) 1,631. 7, Liane Villanueva (STF) 1,619. 8, Joy Ishibashi (Iol) 1,616. 9 (tie), Jordeen Koizumi (PC), Malia Baldovi (Maui) 1,605. 11, Diana Ishida (Mili) 1,588. 12 (tie), Dara Ajimine (Kalan), Cara Hasegawa (UHS) 1,581. 14, Jasmine Yoshimoto (Hana) 1,574. 15, Cheryl Sun (MPI) 1,565. 16, Stacey Shigekane (Mili) 1,548. 17, Nicole Kojiro (Hilo) 1,545. 18, Holly Somera ('Aiea) 1,543. 19, Joy Yamane (Kalan) 1,541. 20, Sandy Kodama (Bald) 1,538. 21, Marissa Mackenzie (Camp) 1,534. 22, Ashley Ono (Waiak) 1,521. 23, Jamie Lara (Mili) 1,519. 24, Lianne Deeter ('Aiea) 1,509. 25, Jillian Kam (HBA) 1,508.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.