Boys basketball

The assumptions are there. How could they not be there when the top three teams from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu spent most of the season occupying the top three spots in the Star-Bulletin Boys Basketball Top 10. But there’s more to this year’s Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships than dominant teams and leagues. There’s style. For the first time in recent memory, two of the Division I tournament’s four seeded champions are run-and-gun outfits: No. 2 seed Moanalua […]

It’s not exactly irony, but Micah Dunhour is probably the most fortunate basketball player in the state this week. The slashing 6-foot-3 junior was a reserve forward at Honokaa last year, impatiently sitting behind more seasoned teammates. In the summer, he joined up with Hawaii Select, based on Oahu, and his game blossomed in mainland summer tournaments. Dunhour then transferred to Academy of the Pacific, a small private school in Honolulu. The Dolphins showed plenty of potential in preseason and […]

‘Iolani, as expected, is the No. 1 seed in the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Boys Basketball Division I State Championships. Roosevelt is the top seed in the Division I state tourney. The HHSAA released the seedings, brackets and pairings late Sunday night. Normally, tournament information is released on Sunday morning or early afternoon. When the HHSAA held off on releasing yesterday’s info, there may have been a possibility that it was waiting for the result of today’s play-in game between Honokaa and […]

By Paul Honda It could’ve been a three-day visit to the Big Island for the Kamehameha Warriors. Instead, the precaution of staying grounded while the state was under tsunami warning did them good. The biggest and only boys basketball game of Saturday, a state-tourney play-in game between Kamehameha and Honokaa, was postponed to Monday, 4 p.m. After winning the Interscholastic League of Honolulu’s third-place tournament, Kamehameha stayed home on Oahu. Honokaa, a team that went through a coaching change in […]

By Paul Honda If there were a sixth-man award, there would be few candidates as stout as Keven Amaral. The 6-foot lefty regularly rides the pine as Moanalua’s Formula One starting crew takes off at the start of each game. By the time Amaral enters, he’s been chilled on the bench for several minutes. By the time he’s done for the night, the reserve swingman has another double-digit game, hardly a turnover and Moanalua has another win. Last night’s 55-48 […]

By Paul Honda Same start, same finish. Watching the ongoing primetime drama of Roosevelt and Kailua has all the emotional swings and power plays of any great rivalry. Yet, it’s puzzling and baffling — and for Kailua fans, heartbreaking — that the ending was the same once again. A week ago, Kailua demolished Roosevelt in the first half, led by 17 at the break, opened the margin to 21 points … and found itself practically helpless as the Rough Riders […]

By Paul Honda Don’t get confused now. Kahuku scored just 40 points in a playoff loss to Mililani. A week or so later, the Red Raiders scored 64 in a win over those same Trojans. What gives? Well, Kahuku had a poor shooting night in the loss. On Tuesday, it was a run-and-gun tempo for both teams early on, especially with Mua Malufau and Samala Afalava hitting open 3-pointers — to Mililani’s surprise — in an elimination playoff game. So, […]

By Paul Honda Tall order for the Kailua Surfriders. They bounced back from last week’s heart-wrenching loss to Roosevelt with an impressive win at Waianae on Tuesday. This means Kailua needs two wins over Roosevelt, the only undefeated team in the Oahu Interscholastic Association White Conference double-elimination tourney, to win the league crown. The Surfriders are capable. They had a 34-17 lead on Roosevelt when they played at McKinley Student Council Gym last week. Jordan DeCorte is a powerful scorer […]