To those basketball fans kicking themselves for missing the Hilo girls playing in the school’s spanking brand new gym on Tuesday night against Kealakehe, fear not. ADVERTISING To those basketball fans kicking themselves for missing the Hilo girls playing in
To those basketball fans kicking themselves for missing the Hilo girls playing in the school’s spanking brand new gym on Tuesday night against Kealakehe, fear not.
The Vikings’ next Big Island Interscholastic Federation game is on Saturday, Jan. 3.
If that’s too long a wait, the annual Hilo Holiday Prep Classic will be held Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 18-20 at the new gym.
The new boys coach is Darryl Yagi. Besides his Vikings, the other teams in the tourney field are St. Joseph, Pahoa, Ka‘u, Honokaa, Kohala, Waiakea and Keaau.
The Hilo boys will host their first BIIF game in the new gym on Friday, Jan. 9, against Honokaa.
Cardinal Classic
The annual St. Joseph Cardinal Classic will be held Thursday-Saturday at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
St. Joe coach Mike Scanlan and his assistant Bruce Lee return two starters in senior Koa Galves and junior Cole DeSilva. Other key players are junior Kaena Nahoopii, and sophomores Chris Correa and Manato Fukuda, who’s from Japan, and freshman Jakob Au.
The other teams in the tourney field are Kamehameha, Hilo, Waiakea, Ka‘u, Pahoa, Honokaa and Saint Louis from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.
Games on Thursday and Friday will start at 3:30 p.m. Thursday’s feature game at 7:30 p.m. will be between host St. Joe and Saint Louis.
On Saturday the first game is at 5 p.m. following the UH-Hilo basketball men’s and women’s games.
It will be free admission to the Cardinal Classic if fans have their hands stamped with paid admission to the UH-Hilo games.
Life Champion Senior Bowl
Hawaii Football Club president and Senior Bowl founder Keala Pule confirmed that the showcase will return next year.
It was a packed house on Saturday at Paiea Stadium, where the Black Aztec Coqui Frog Bags beat the White Shmoney Shquad 35-28.
The 86 players from the 33 high schools chose the unique nicknames.
Everyone on the Big Island knows about the irritating Coqui frogs, but what’s a Shmoney? Rapper Bobby Shmurda created a “Shmoney Dance.”
If you can spare three minutes of your life, it’s on YouTube or a young person with a cell phone could provide all the scoops.
BIIF Player of the Week
Pahoa senior guard Tolby Saito is the BIIF Player of the Week, after a 30-point performance in a 55-49 win over Kaiser in the championship of the Waiakea/Keaau preseason basketball tournament.
Saito drilled four 3-pointers and made 10 of 13 free throws.
Honorable mention: Gabbie Ewing, Hawaii Prep soccer.
The senior midfielder scored two goals in a 5-0 win over Kamehameha-Hawaii in a rematch of the past three BIIF D-II finals at Waimea.
To nominate a BIIF Player of the Week, for any sport, email kjakahi@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
