The shuffle continued today for every team in the Star-Advertiser Boys Basketball Top 10 except for one.
While Punahou remains atop the poll, Farrington and Lahainaluna entered for the first time this season.
No. 9 Farrington (8-6) may be the hottest team in the Oahu Interscholastic Association after posting wins over then-No. 7 Moanalua and then-No. 9 Kalaheo in the past two weeks. The Governors are 3-0 in the East’s blended schedule. They will play in the OIA Division II playoffs after the regular season is done.
No. 10 Lahainaluna (7-5) is 3-0 in the Maui Interscholastic League after wins over Maui and Kamehameha-Maui last week. Prior to that, the Lunas earned wins over St. Francis and Rex Putnam at the Lahainaluna Invitational. They also split preseason games with Kalaheo.
Punahou garnered all 11 first-place votes from coaches and media and is No. 1 for a third-straight week. The Buffanblu (16-1) opened Interscholastic League of Honolulu play with a 50-28 win at Mid-Pacific on Thursday. They have won 14 games in a row since a week-one, nonconference loss at Damien.
The Buffanblu have a busy week ahead with games at Kamehameha on Tuesday, at St. Francis on Thursday and against Maryknoll at home on Saturday.
Maryknoll (16-1, 2-0 ILH) hopped two notches to No. 2 after posting wins over St. Francis 65-52 and ‘Iolani 62-54. The Spartans have won four games in a row since losing to Damien at the Punahou Invitational. They have not permitted more than 55 points in a game.
The Spartans have three key games this week: Saint Louis, Kamehameha and Punahou.
‘Iolani (9-5, 0-1 ILH) dropped to No. 3 after the loss to Maryknoll. The Raiders visit Mid-Pacific on Tuesday and Saint Louis on Thursday, then host Kamehameha on Saturday.
Damien (16-2, 3-0 ILH D-II) slid one spot to No. 4 despite posting wins over University and Le Jardin. The Monarchs have a 6-2 record against Top 10 teams, but will possibly have no ranked opponents again until the state tournament.
Saint Louis (8-0, 1-0 ILH) rose to No. 5, its highest ranking of the season, after edging St. Francis 64-61 on Saturday. The Crusaders have three home games in a row: Maryknoll on Tuesday, ‘Iolani on Thursday and Mid-Pacific on Jan. 15.
Kailua (10-8, 2-0 OIA) also moved one notch higher to No. 6 after a big road win at Kahuku. This is Kailua’s highest ranking of the season. The Surfriders host Kalaheo tonight and Kaiser on Wednesday, then travel to Farrington on Friday.
St. Francis (14-11, 0-2 ILH) dropped two places to No. 7 after losses to Maryknoll and Saint Louis. Senior guard Kameron Ng re-injured his ankle against Maryknoll, but returned to play against Saint Louis. The Saints host Punahou on Thursday and visit Mid-Pacific on Saturday.
Kalaheo (10-10, 1-1 OIA) bumped one spot higher to No. 8 after splitting two OIA East games last week. The Mustangs travel to rival Kailua tonight, then host Kaimuki on Wednesday and go back on the road Friday to play Castle.
Kamehameha and Kahuku dropped out of the Top 10. Kamehameha (11-5, 0-1 ILH) had been voted in every week until today. The Warriors lost at Mid-Pacific on Friday 59-53.
Kahuku (10-6, 1-2 OIA) lost to Kailua 58-52 and Kaiser 45-43 last week.
Teams receiving votes in today’s rankings: Kamehameha, Moanalua, Kahuku, Mid-Pacific, Hawaii Prep, Waiakea and Kalani.
Honolulu Star-Advertiser Top 10
| FOOTBALL | ||
|---|---|---|
| Updated: 10/23 | ||
| RANK | SCHOOL | VOTES |
| 1. | Kahuku (10) | 100 |
| 2. | Miililani | 86 |
| 3. | Campbell | 81 |
| 4. | Punahou | 73 |
| 5. | Saint Louis | 53 |
| 6. | Kapolei | 50 |
| 7. | Konawaena | 40 |
| 8. | Farrington | 23 |
| 9. | Lahainaluna | 18 |
| 10. | Kamehameha | 8 |
A single digit loss in ILH D1 should carry more weight in the polls than a double-digit win in ILH D2. Just sayin.
Farrington is DII?
Wow. How did that happen?
Look at that. Top 5 teams all ILH schools. They stealing the OIA’s best players. Where is Radford? I remember when Radford used to own OIA basketball. Them, and their fine popolo athletes. Pete Smith meant everything to the once great Kalaheo basketball program. Now they just living off transfers from the ILH. Iolani gonna say they don’t recruit. yeah, right. They do. Volleyball too. Had one Iolani recruit a few years ago, Kupaa Harrison. The ohana was paying 10% of what tuition was and then held out his senior year for a 100% free ride. Iolani said no, so he transferred back to Kalaheo and led them to a state championship that year. Him and Kaleb Gilmore, who was at Maryknoll previously.
So then a win by a D2 team over a ranked school in D1 should carry the most weight in the ILH…based on what you are sayin JetWavy, and that means both ways….the D1 team that loses that way to a D2 team should just about drop out of the top 10 poll? Come on….you gotta consider the teams involved, not just the Division. If that were the case, most of the top ILH teams would be out of the top 10…lol.
ILH, the ILH is stealing the OIA’s best players every year. That’s why Farrington is Div 2. When I was a kid in the 1970s, only Maryknoll and University High had basketball only recruits. Punahou and Iolani recruits played at least 2 sports, even 3. Now even Iolani has basketball only recruits. They recruiting volleyball players too nowadays. Never used to recruit in volleyball, but they sport has grown in popularity to the point that schools want state champion volleyball teams,. Not good enough to be just competitive. Then in football, you have the win-at-all-costs St Louis Crusader Football Academy.
Mahatma, you are right…all the ILH schools recruit, but guess what…now the OIA schools are doing it too….I see it first hand. OIA schools cannot offer reduced tuition or scholarships, but some can offer playing time and a chance to make a run at OIA and State championships. Also, lots of ILH boys are moving back to OIA because of behavior or educational issues, along with lack of playing time. Not all of them are going back to the district school they actually live in. Check the Radford teams, they got some brothers on the varsity and jv. It’s easier to make states from the OIA because they have more team spots in most state championship sports. I miss the old days where there were no divisions levels. If you were good, you were good. But at least now more kids get to play for “championships”.
Name one Kid on Iolani’s team now that was recruited for basketball. Kahuku only one recruiting BB and Punahou taking all there FB players..
@SPORTSPARENT
D2 teams beating D1 teams does count for a lot… in pre-season. But once regular season begins and a team like Damien has a schedule that consists of Hanalani, Le Jardin, UH Lab, etc. etc. while a team like Mid-Pac plays Maryknoll, Punahou, Iolani, Saint Louis, (TWICE), Damien’s weak schedule should definitely drop them from rankings I could care less how badly they’re beating those other D2 teams. BTW, I agree with your one division statement. The era of the D2 state tournament, to me, has diminished the game in this state.
@OneTeam
Even recruited teams are allowed to have down years. Look at Kahuku they are definitely having a down year but that didn’t erase the fact that they had success with transferred talent the last two seasons. Same with Iolani. They may not have “studs” on their roster now, but not that long ago they were riding the coattails of a 6’9″ post who never had anyone challenge him in the paint in the ILH for 4 seasons.
JetWavy, I agree, D2 teams should not get to keep their status during the regular season in the top half of the top 10, but I do think if a D2 team is dominating at their level, and has beat top D1 teams early in the year, they can hold a position in the 6-10 spots. The problem with that is there will be no way to compare them later in the year since they will not get to play the D1 top teams during states. It really is just bragging rights for the D2 teams if they can crack the top 10.
For those that feel the ILH is recruiting players from the OIA, where else are they going to get their student athletes (some are kinda just athletes to be real)? And for those that think that most OIA schools don’t recruit athletes, you are not being realistic. Remember, just because a team recruits doesn’t mean they get em. I see it going both ways, ILH and OIA poaching from each other. It’s just more often that the ILH gets the biggest fish because there is a dollar value associated with a private school education, and many of the best athletes get funded through scholarships or “Friends of the Program” funds. Parents and kids want the prestige of private schools much of the time.
In the ILH, when intermediate teams are playing each other, they are often pretty even, D1 playing D2, with D2 often winning overall. Once 9th grade starts, the D1 teams load up on the best players from both OIA and ILH D2, and the separation usually starts there. No complaints, it is what it is.