Boys basketball

One night can change everything. The Kamehameha Warriors know this. So do the Punahou Buffanblu. Punahou was one second away from advancing to the third-place final of the ILH playoffs on Wednesday night. All the home team had to do was defend what would likely be a miracle shot attempt by the visiting Warriors. With 1.5 seconds on the clock and the ball on the other end of the court, Kala‘i Smith inbounded the ball to EJ Kapihe roughly 50 […]

Trey Lieb and Amari Westmoreland-Vendiola were teammates last year. When Westmoreland-Vendiola was invited to play with the Las Vegas Stars in a California tournament, he and his travel partner made a recommendation. Pualani Vendiola, his grandmother, suggested that the Stars bring in Lieb, the Mililani sharpshooter. The Stars enjoyed their success on that trip. Lieb and Westmoreland-Vendiola first became teammates while playing for Alika Smith’s Hawaii Select squad last summer. On Tuesday night in the OIA Division I semifinals, they […]

It was the best of all worlds. It was the worst of all worlds. With the OIA and ILH boys basketball playoffs smushed up into a compact time frame because of the state-tournament date change, it can be a smorgasbord of hoops for fans. But something has to give, of course. When the OIA playoffs tipped off on Saturday, it was a mere two days after the regular season ended. Just like that, the season was done for a gritty […]

Kailua zoomed four notches higher to No. 4 in Monday’s Star-Advertiser Boys Basketball Top 10. The Surfriders (12-1 overall) closed regular-season play with wins over Roosevelt and previously-unbeaten Kahuku last week. Kailua (12-1 overall) also collected one first-place vote from a panel of coaches and media. Saint Louis (16-2) remains the No. 1 squad after collecting nine of 11 first-place ballots. The Crusaders, sparked by Aiva Arquette and Hayden Bayudan, finished first in the ILH regular-season standings. Saint Louis and […]

The Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs aren’t a mirror of the NBA’s postseason format, but it is pretty darn close. For decades, late-season play has been rewarded in OIA basketball. Nearly every team qualifies for the playoffs. Win and you’re in. Unlike the ILH and MIL, though, consistent success in the OIA doesn’t merit an automatic state-tournament berth, which opens things up for more teams to have shot at the big dance. It drums up drama. Judging from the roaring crowds […]

No one man could stop Amari Westmoreland-Vendiola, but a pile of personal fouls certainly did. The high-scoring Kahuku senior sat for a key stretch of the second half with four fouls, allowing No. 8 Kailua to rally from an 11-point deficit for a stunning 50-45 win over No. 5 Kahuku on Thursday night. Westmoreland-Vendiola came into the game averaging 26 points per game. He finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Kailua earned the top seed in the […]

For much of this abbreviated season — most preseason games were wiped out by protocols — there were two. Aiva Arquette and Amari Westmoreland-Vendiola have been unstoppable scoring machines, equally adept from the perimeter and the paint. Maryknoll altered the force on Tuesday night, limiting Arquette to 11 points in a 50-45 win over No. 1 Saint Louis that may have changed the trajectory of the ILH boys basketball season. “We had a good game plan, to make sure Arquette […]

The fate of ILH boys basketball contenders not named Saint Louis rests with Punahou on Thursday night. Yes, when the Buffanblu visit Saint Louis, it will be more than No. 2 trekking to No. 1, more than the Sons of Oahu challenging the gentlemen of Kalaepohaku. Saint Louis is 8-2 in ILH Division I play with two games remaining: Punahou and winless Damien. Punahou, ‘Iolani and Maryknoll are 7-3. A Punahou win on Thursday reshuffles the deck, more or less, […]