Boys basketball

The names are familiar enough. Their identities? That’s another matter. Just about every team in this year’s OC-16/HHSAA Boys Basketball Division I State Championships has undergone a transformation (or two or three) since the start of preseason. If this boys basketball season was a human, it would be a cross between Al Pacino’s “Sonny” in “Dog Day Afternoon” and Sly Stallone as Balboa in “Rocky”. Maybe. The OIA started out with few surprises. Leilehua was the best in the West. […]

Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion ‘Iolani drew the No. 1 seed for the upcoming boys basketball state tournament. Oahu Interscholastic League champ Kalaheo is No. 2, followed by Maui Interscholastic League winner Lahainaluna at No. 3 and Big Island Interscholastic Federation titlist Waiakea at No. 4. St. Francis drew the No. 1 seed for Division II. The Division I bracket is here: http://bit.ly/1XsjWbl The Division II bracket is here: http://bit.ly/1U2chAC

If you haven’t noticed, Punahou is really coming around, and despite a slow start to the boys basketball season, the Buffanblu are now in the states. There are a lot of reasons for that, including teamwork, unselfishness and — in the case of Friday’s night’s ILH tournament victory over Kamehameha — deadly 3-point shooting. Another reason is the emergence of sophomore point guard Cole Arceneaux. He has played all season, but his role has increased steadily. In Punahou’s platoon system, he […]

The ‘Iolani Red Raiders endured quite a path to a state-tournament berth. Somewhere in the midst of all the ILH boys basketball drama — thankfully all on the hardwood — Coach Dean Shimamoto‘s team is still standing while two other teams (Kamehameha and Punahou) remain locked in a battle for the final berth. ‘Iolani is resting until Saturday, when it will play one of those teams for the ILH championship. HPW: Winning the wild ILH tiebreaker playoff, then losing in […]

Kamehameha boys basketball coach Greg Tacon was kind enough to reflect and share his thoughts as the Warriors prepare for Friday’s ILH playoff final against Punahou. The winner secures a precious state-tournament berth, one of just two allotted to the ILH, and will meet ‘Iolani on Saturday for the league crown. “When I look back at what happened this year, I can’t help but to be proud and honored to be a part of this incredibly competitive ILH season. I’m […]

The Age of Iron Men continues in the unforgiving land of Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys basketball. Truly, winter is here. Vanquished as of Tuesday night: Top 10 teams Mid-Pacific and Maryknoll. The Owls of MPI fell to Kamehameha while the Spartans were ousted by one point as Punahou advanced. MPI went as far as it could with a strong nucleus, but depth-wise, it was difficult to match Kamehameha. The Warriors employ at least 10 players every night with scarcely […]

The Mad Librarian (my editor, Jerry Campany) asked. When the Mad Librarian asks, the translation to plain English is, just do it. So here goes. He wants me to seed the entire high school basketball universe in our beloved and beautiful islands. Mad Librarian is not a fan of classification in basketball. He echoes the spirit of prep hoops in Indiana, where the tiniest of burbs and old villes have a shot at the biggest throne because it is the […]