Three golfers with Hawai'i ties, including top-seeded Kimberly Kim, advanced to today's round of 16 of match play at the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship in Lakewood, Wash.

Kim, a former Hilo resident, and Stephanie Kono and Ayaka Kaneko, both of Honolulu, each won two matches yesterday at Tacoma Country Club.

After losing the first three holes, Kim rallied to defeat No. 32 Tessa Teachman, 5 and 3, in the second round.

"Usually, I just think, 'If you're going to lose, then just try your best until it's over,' " Kim said in a story on the tournament's Web site. "Because if I lose and I'm playing good, that's OK. But if I'm shooting really bad and then I lose, then I'll feel really bad."

Kim won four consecutive holes, starting with No. 4 to go 1 up. She then won the ninth and 10th holes with birdies en route to the lopsided victory.

It was her second comeback victory of the day. Kim, a 15-year-old now living in Arizona, rallied to defeat Amy Ruengmateekhun, of Garland, Texas, 4 and 3, in the first round earlier in the day.

Ruengmateekhun, the No. 64 seed, won the first two holes, and after Kim won No. 3, maintained a one-hole lead until No. 8. Ruengmateekhun bogeyed the hole to allow Kim to square the match.

Kim took control by winning No. 10 with a par. She went 2-up by winning No. 12 and made consecutive birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 to end the match.

Kim, who earned the top seed after taking medalist honors, faces No. 48 Mary Michael Maggio, of Conway, Ark., in the round of 16.

Kono, seeded No. 25, beat No. 40 Stephanie Kim of Bayside, N.Y., 1-up and No. 8 Alexis Thompson, 12, of Coral Springs, Fla., 4 and 2, to advance.

Thompson made headlines recently, becoming the youngest ever to play in U.S. Women's Open. Thompson also edged Kimberly Kim two weeks ago to win the Westfield Junior PGA Championship.

"Alexis played great but I think she just made a couple mistakes and I just capitalized on those mistakes," Kono said. "I played the same way when I was 12 years old."

The 17-year-old Kono won the first hole with a par and the par-3 third with a birdie. She lost the fourth hole and maintained a 1-up lead until she won par-4 No. 8 with a birdie, the par-5 No. 9 with a birdie and No. 10 with a par.

Thompson closed the deficit to three holes by winning No. 15, but Kono birdied the par-5 No. 16 to close out the match.

Kono faces No. 24 Maria Uribe of Colombia today.

Kaneko, seeded No. 51, defeated No. 14 Felicia Espericueta of Edinberg, Texas, 2 and 1, and No. 46 Wonjoo Choi of Korea, 4 and 3. Kaneko plays No. 3 Mina Harigae of Monterey, Calif., today. Harigae won the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links title last month.

Kahului's Elyse Okada, seeded No. 44, defeated No. 21 Cheyenne Hickle of Gilbert, Ariz., 4 and 2, then was eliminated by No. 53 Tessa The, of Los Altos, Calif., on the 19th hole in the second round.

Okada had a chance to win the 18th hole but her birdie putt stopped an inch short of the hole. The birdied the 19th to win.

Honolulu's Cyd Okino, seeded No. 38, lost her opening-round match to No. 27 Tiffany Lua of Rowland Heights, Calif., 3 and 2.

The round of 16 and quarterfinals will be played today. The 36-hole final is scheduled for Saturday.

The original field of 156 players was cut to 64 after two rounds of stroke play.

Information from www.usgirlsjunior.org was used in this report