Boys basketball

The Leilehua Mules have played strong basketball of late, but came out flat against the top-ranked ‘Iolani Raiders this afternoon. IOL leads 41-26 with 5:13 left in the third quarter. The lead was 31-16 in the second quarter before Nicholas Duran got hot for Leilehua. The Mules got within a single-digit margin, but their zone defense hasn’t been able to stop IOL center Hugh Hogland (6-8 junior). Nick Kennedy is showing nice versatility, too, hitting a corner 3 to help […]

Punahou is the quickest group and deepest group of athletes I’ve seen so far. Coach Darren Matsuda can press with his first five or his second five. Full court. Half court. Kaiser has been behind for most of this first half, but has stayed close with heady veteran plays by PG Nic Tom and swingman Keoua Mahiko. Interesting that Mahiko was whistled for two offensive fouls. They’re allowing some contact by the defender, so Mahiko shoved his guy a bit […]

Punahou got an early challenge from host Moanalua, but exploded in the second quarter to open a double-digit lead on day one of the Moanalua OIA-ILH Challenge. Moanalua led 25-24 in the second quarter before Punahou’s depth and fullcourt pressure began to wear down the hustling Na Menehune. Moanalua forward Saige Pulu picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter and sat down, accelerating Punahou’s run. It was a barrage of open threes off the fastbreak. POST-GAME Cole […]

Kaiser’s new adventure, officially moving on up from Division II to D-I, is going well. Chance Kalaugher made sure of that by scoring 35 points, including a tip-in to give the Cougars a 62-61 lead in the final minute, en route to a 64-61 win over Kamehameha. Isaiah Akiona‘s free throws with 19.2 seconds left opened the margin to three points. Kamehameha’s last shot in the final seconds missed, and it was a 2-point shot at that. Kalaugher hit four […]

I have not seen the ‘Iolani Raiders play in nearly two weeks. Back then, they defeated Farrington soundly. Center Hugh Hogland tweaked an ankle while blocking a shot. Tonight, they’ve got an athletic Mililani squad to battle. The Trojans have looked much better of late, using center Isaac Liva and forward Kalakaua Timoteo. FIRST QUARTER The Raiders are pressing off a missed free throw, but MIL slices through it and Timoteo scores on a lay-in easily. This might turn into […]

Here we go. The Moanalua OIA-ILH Challenge tips off in 10 minutes. A quadrupleheader each night for three nights in a row. That’s a good deal. First game matches No. 7 Saint Louis and No. 8 Leilehua. I’ll be blogging the games that I’m not statting for print, which means three of four games tonight will be posted here live. It’s warm and toasty in here on this sunny Hawaiian winter day. Temperature is 84 degrees with 56-percent humidity. Last […]