Boys basketball

In Tuesday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Paul Honda wrote about the top 10 prep stories of 2017. You can read it here. Here’s a deeper look at one of the 10 stories. 10. Kahuku captures boys basketball title While the Kahuku football team generates most of the attention, the boys basketball team drew plenty of enthusiasm from fans during its state-championship run. The Red Raiders were led by All-State Fab 15 selections Jessiya Villa (player of the year), Samuta Avea and Daniel […]

Like any pyramid-shaped format, fleshing out a Top 35 list is not easy. It’s almost fun. But the more I do this, the more I learn about some of these middling programs that have all kinds of potential. Sometimes, determination and commitment push a team from the middle of the pack to a state-tournament berth. That’s as much (or more) a thrill as having all the talent in the world and dominating competition en route to a title. A lot […]

Punahou still reigns, Kamehameha got a little love, Campbell walked in and Kailua has been bumped off in the latest Star-Advertiser Boys Basketball Top 10. The Buffanblu won their Punahou Invitational title and improved to 16-1 in nonconference play. Coaches and media gave them nine of the 10 first-place votes. Kamehameha (13-3) collected one first-place vote after winning three of four games in The Classic at Damien (Ontario, Calif.) over the weekend. Campbell (10-5) enters the Top 10 for the […]

In the end, once again, the heavyweight outmuscled the welterweight. Top-ranked Punahou took everything No. 5 St. Francis had to offer and persevered for a 59-52 win on Saturday night in the final of the Punahou Invitational. “It was a good pressure game for us. It was good for us, even though it wasn’t a perfect game,” Buffanblu coach Darren Matsuda said. “Our execution on offense, we have our standard and we didn’t get there. (St. Francis’) defense is real […]

The Kamehameha Warriors went 3-1 and took the consolation-bracket title at The Classic at Damien High School in California. Kamehameha lost its opening-round game to Colony (Ontario, Calif.) on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Warriors broke open a 26-all game in the second half to defeat Fountain Valley (Calif.) 59-50. The Warriors were tied at 14 after one quarter against Jordan (Long Beach, Calif.), and went on to a 63-50 victory. Kamehameha then edged Blair (Pasadena, Calif.) 67-64 in overtime on […]

The last day of basketball is here. As the Year 2017 A.D. nears its end, so does the game of roundball as we know it. It was good, no, fantastic while it lasted. It was a time that changed us, an era of sport that was like none other. And now, I bid you farewell and aloha, Basketball of the Year 2017. Wait. Are there any games tomorrow? Here’s a look at the scores and schedule for the final day […]

The message was clear from coach Ron Durant to his St. Francis Saints. Everyone step up. With the Saints on the verge of something more than just cool — they’d just knocked off mighty Sequoia (Calif.) in the quarterfinals of the Punahou Invitational — they might achieve something new. By Friday night, the fifth-ranked Saints had a stunning 55-48 upset win over No. 2 Maryknoll at Hemmeter Fieldhouse. They did it despite leading scorer Kameron Ng sitting for almost the […]