If, if, if.
The strange and amazing brew that is ILH boys basketball is keeping Peter Estomago on his toes.
With so much murkiness and excitement because of this year’s extreme parity, the league’s basketball coordinator has been navigating threw a slew of potential scenarios in both boys and girls hoops.
First, the boys. Saint Louis is 6-3 in league play after a loss at Kamehameha on Tuesday. Meanwhile, ‘Iolani, Kamehameha and Punahou lurk at 5-4. If tonight’s final night of regular-season play results in a two-way tie, a playoff game will be held to determine the regular-season champion.
This is vital. The regular-season champ earns an automatic state-tournament berth, and the league won’t decide it with a coin flip. No, no. Estomago doesn’t have a set schedule or site for such a game, but it could be on Friday or Saturday, maybe even Monday. But it would have to be played before next Tuesday, when the league’s playoff tournament commences.
Then this: if there’s a three-way tie at the top after tonight’s games, things get a bit funky. There would be a draw — normally, athletic directors of the participating schools meet at the ILH office and do this in person — with one team getting a bye and the other two squaring off.
Again, there’s no set schedule for this scenario, but it could be any combination of Friday/Saturday, Saturday/Monday or Friday/Monday.
All this is meaningless, of course, if Saint Louis beats Punahou tonight and clinches the ILH regular-season title. The game is set for 7:15 p.m. at McCabe Gymnasium.
There’s also congestion in terms of sites. Punahou and Maryknoll’s gyms are out of the question for the weekend because of the Punahou Carnival. Maryknoll, located across Wilder Ave. from Punahou, uses its parking acreage to raise funds for Carnival attendees. There are other sports like wrestling having big events, so Estomago’s calculations and planning have limited options.
“At this time, we’ll have to let this play out and we’ll wait until tonight’s games are completed,” he said. “I know the parents and players want to know.”
As for the girls, Punahou and Maryknoll will meet on Friday for the league’s playoff-tourney title. Because both gyms are not viable due to the parking and Carnival issues, the game will be played at Saint Louis’ McCabe Gymnasium on Friday, 6:30 p.m.
If regular-season winner Maryknoll loses that game, a league championship game with Punahou will be scheduled. Estomago said that game will be played before Tuesday at a site to be determined.
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