The next wave of top professional surfers could be coming from Maui.

Led by champion Dusty Payne, Maui surfers were the standouts in the Billabong Junior Pro In Memory Of Ronnie Burns contest on Wednesday.

More than 60 of the state's best surfers under the age of 21 competed in the contest at Kewalo Basin.

"There's a lot of good surfers coming out of Maui, and we all grew up surfing against each other," said Payne, who is from Lahaina. "When we do contests now, we're all fired up to do better than the next guy. We're all friends, but we want to beat each other in the water."

Payne defeated fellow Lahaina surfer Granger Larsen in Wednesday's one-on-one final, 16.35-12.55.

"I really believe that a lot of it came down to wave selection," said Payne, 17. "There weren't that many good waves throughout the day, so you just had to be patient and wait."

Payne said he practices surfing with Larsen every day. Larsen won the Billabong Junior contest at Kewalo Basin last year.

Seven Maui surfers placed among the top 16 on Wednesday: Payne first, Larsen second, Kai Barger tied for third, Kevin Sullivan tied for fifth, and Hank Gaskell, Wesley Larsen and Clay Marzo tied for ninth.

The top four finishers — Payne, Larsen, Barger and Torrey Meister from O'ahu's North Shore — qualified to represent Hawai'i at the Billabong Junior Pro World Championships at North Narrabeen, Australia, Jan. 1 to 8. One more Hawai'i surfer will be selected later in the year to compete in Australia.

Kekoa Bacalso of Mililani won the Billabong Junior Pro World Championships this year, and is now competing on surfing's World Qualifying Series.

Payne is hoping for a similar result. He recently graduated from Thompson Academy, and plans to compete in professional events soon.

In the junior women's division, Coco Ho of O'ahu's North Shore defeated Carissa Moore of Honolulu in the one-on-one final on Wednesday.

Ho's top two waves received a total score of 16.0 to top Moore's 13.0. It was a reversal of last year's final, when Moore placed first and Ho was second.

Ho is 15 and the daughter of Michael Ho, the famous North Shore surfer and world title contender during the 1970s and '80s.

Ho and Moore also qualified to represent Hawai'i in the junior women's division of the Billabong Junior Pro World Championships in Australia.

Shark-attack survivor Bethany Hamilton and fellow Kaua'i competitor Leila Hurst tied for third place on Wednesday.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.