HONOLULU — Three schools — Moanalua, Kamehameha and Punahou — can make a case for the No. 1 seed in next week’s state boys volleyball tournament.

Moanalua, nationally ranked and supercharged with three future Division I players, cruised to the Oahu Interscholastic Association title next week. However, the HHSAA Division I bracket has been on hold as Interscholastic League of Honolulu rivals Kamehameha and Punahou continue to battle it out for the league championship.

The Warriors and Buffanblu will face off once more at 6 p.m. Thursday at Kamehameha for the overall ILH crown and the league’s seeded berth to states. Punahou ramped up the drama with five-set wins on the Kapalama Heights on Tuesday and Wednesday to claim the double-elimination ILH tournament title.

[UPDATE: Kamehameha defeated Punahou in five sets on Thursday night to secure hthe overall ILH championship. The state bracket was subsequently released and Moanalua was given the No. 1 seed and Kamehameha No. 2.]

The winner of the ILH has regularly been rubber stamped with the No. 1 seed; an ILH team has won the Division I state final 41 straight tournaments. Punahou has won the last nine.

But one of the main stories of the year in Hawaii boys’ volleyball has been Moanalua, with its North America transplants, Kai Rodriguez, Justin Todd and Zack Yewchuk, all bound for the University of Hawaii at Manoa next season.

Moanalua, which did not drop a set through the OIA season and playoffs, holds a No. 4 ranking in the USA Today Super 25 national rankings. Another poll by MaxPreps has Moanalua at No. 7.

Na Menehune even swept Corona Del Mar (Calif.), currently ranked No. 3 by MaxPreps, at the Clash of the Titans tournament at Punahou.

However, Punahou went on to beat Moanalua in five sets at the signature non-league event.

Na Menehune’s starting libero, Kaden Sato, was out for that one. Sato is back — he contributed five digs in Na Menehune’s sweep of Mililani for the OIA title on April 26.

An OIA team last won states in 1979, when Roosevelt three-peated. Moanalua has never won it, though it has gotten close under coach Alan Cabanting.

Cabanting said, “absolutely,” when asked if Na Menehune deserved the No. 1.

“When we had an exhibition match against Kamehameha, we were able to beat them,” Cabanting said. “When we played Punahou (we were) without our libero … and we still took them to five sets.

“Those little instances when Kaden is there … and he’s able to put us out of system, in system, with our two big hitters, we are usually able to put balls away, as we did at the Best in the West tournament against Corona and Mira Costa. When we did play Punahou without him, a lot of those balls were a little bit shaky and we struggled, especially in the fifth set.”

Kamehameha continues to ride the arm of sophomore star Kainoa Wade, the son of UH men’s volleyball coach Charlie Wade. In another heavy-usage night, Wade had 33 kills and a dozen errors in Wednesday’s loss to Punahou.

The Warriors won the ILH regular season in convincing fashion, but have since struggled to close the deal for their first ILH title in years.

Kamehameha second-year coach Sava Agpoon said he is not concerned about whether the ILH champ is No. 1 or 2. Punahou has four official losses and Kamehameha three.

“I mean, I understand with the records and stuff like that. I don’t really care,” Agpoon said. “It doesn’t really matter if you think about it, because that first or second seed is what matters. ILH and OIA, we always get split apart (in the bracket) anyway.

“If anything, No. 1 has the target on their back.”

Punahou, with a largely brand-new cast of starters, has steadily improved over the course of the season and has begun to realize its potential, according to veteran coach Rick Tune.

He thinks that his Buffanblu are deserving of the No. 1 if his team completes its comeback to the ILH title Thursday night. Hitter Kahale Clini had 23 kills and setter Elijah Smith had 34 assists and 10 digs.

“It depends what the committee considers, right? If they go off strength of schedule, our strength of schedule is, in my opinion, much more competitive,” Tune said. “If they go off head-to-head, we’ve played Moanalua once this year in Clash of the Titans, and we beat them in five. So, I mean, it wasn’t a league sanctioned match, but it was a best-out-of-five match.

“Look, we’re going to control what we can control. Hopefully, if we end up winning tonight, the fact that we’re nine-times defending state champion, that we’ve beat Moanalua head-to-head, and that we play a way tougher schedule, will give us some cred in the seeding committee. I would hope so, but you never know.”

Said Smith, who was key in operating Punahou's 6-2 offense, "I think we do deserve (the No. 1) if we keep playing like this. But Moanalua, Kamehameha, they’re both really good teams that we need to play at our best to be able to beat."

Kamehameha-Hawaii and Kamehameha-Maui won the BIIF and MIL championships and will likely be the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds in some order. First-round play begins May 8 with the quarterfinals to follow May 11.

Note: This story was updated with the release of the HHSAA bracket on Friday.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.