Tuesday’s games
Kalani 45, ‘Iolani 44
Wasatch (Utah) 101, Tsinghua (China) 59
Mount Vernon (N.Y.) 66, Mililani 51
Long Island Lutheran (Brookeville, N.Y.) 63, Kamehameha 57
Wednesday’s games
3:30 p.m. Kaiser vs. Garfield (Wash.)
5 p.m. Moanalua vs. Archbishop Wood (Westminster, Penn.)
6:30 p.m. Mid-Pacific vs. Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.)
8 p.m. Damien vs. Jefferson (Portland, Ore.)
Kalani 45, ‘Iolani 44
Micah Kouchi scored 13 points, Jacob Shibuya tallied 11 and Brandon Chung added 10 as Kalani stunned host ‘Iolani in the opening game of the ‘Iolani Prep Classic.
Devin Fujinaka scored 14, Andrew Dawson had 13 and Wes Yamada chipped in 10 for the Raiders.
There is uncertainty, but ‘Iolani officials and long-timers aren’t sure when, or if, the Raiders have lost an opening-round game since the Classic’s inception in 1983. ‘Iolani first-year coach Ryan Hirata believes the previous opening-round loss came during the early years of then-coach Mark Mugiishi’s dynastic era two decades ago.
“Kalani made more plays than us and that’s it,” Hirata said. “We’ve lost six games by a total 11 points. Experiences is good only if you learn from previous mistakes. The guys are very disappointed.”
Kalani shot 10-for-17 at the free-throw line. ‘Iolani was 4-for-8, but sank eight 3-pointers. The Falcons made five treys.
The Falcons improved to 4-4 overall and have won three of their last four games under first-year head coach Noa Hussey.
‘Iolani (3-6) has lesser expectations, perhaps, from the outside world as the rugged ILH regular-season slate nears. Hirata still sees plenty of potential for his young roster.
“It comes with the territory. You’ve got to face it, look in the mirror and come back better. I think everything happens for a reason,” said Hirata, who partnered with Derrick Low to help the Raiders win a state title in 2003 and ’04. “We have outstanding kids. At some point, somewhere down the line, this has to make us better.
Kalani will play the Mid-Pacific/Oak Hill (Va.) winner on Thursday, 6:30 p.m. in the quarterfinal round. ‘Iolani will meet the MPI-Oak Hill loser on Thursday, 2 p.m.
Wasatch (Mount Pleasant, Utah) 101, Tsinghua (China) 59
Richard Isaacs Jr. pumped in 21 points, Caleb Lohner and Richie Saunders had 16 each, and Fousseyni Traore added 11 as the Tigers from Utah routed the Tigers from China.
Cal Xin Chen led Tsinghua with 14 points, including 7-for-7 shooting at the free-throw line. Li Ou Wen added 11 and She Kai had 10.
Mount Vernon (N.Y.) 66, Mililani 51
Troy Hupstead, a 6-foot-8 senior, scored 27 points to power the Eagles. Point guard Irvin Patrick took command in the second half with slashing drives to the bucket, turning a one-point lead into a 15-point win.
Ethan Rudometkin scored 13 points, and Kanoa Gilson and Koby Sison had 10 each for Mililani.
Mount Vernon will meet the Damien-Jefferson (Portland, Ore.) winner on Thursday, 5 p.m. Mililani will play the loser on Thursday, 11 a.m.
Yikes, that’s unheard of. ‘Iolani gets to pick the weakest team to play first every tournament and I’ve never heard of them losing the opening round game until now.
The saying goes:
“Players win games Coaches lose them”
Looks like Iolani doesn’t have the ballers they’ve had in the past. Kamehameha, Punahou, Maryknoll, Damien and even MPI seem to have better teams than the Red Raiders this season. Once StL gets their FBallers on the roster they’ll be tough too. Not sure if John Wooden could get Iolani in States this year
^^^ LOL, that’s true that Iolani is down this year. But still yet … they lost to KALANI!!!
And more worse is that this was in Iolani’s own showcase tournament. The Iolani crew sets the matchups for this tournament so that Iolani can win the first game and then play the big mainland teams after that. Oops! I guess Kalani gotta represent now!
Iolani lost in the first game of its own tourney!?!? haha
Baaaaaaabbogumz