If area basketball courts are looking a little sparse these days, try Las Vegas.
Big Island teams, including three from Honokaa, made good use of the sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center and its 43 courts at the Jam On It Las Vegas Classic, which ended Thursday.
Honokaa High boys coach Jayme Carvalho has been taking teams to Vegas for years, and the trip never fails to accomplish his prime goal of “exposing kids to a different environment.”
Obviously, the glitz and glamour of the Strip is different than life in North Hawaii. On the court, Hawaiian Sunset often faces bigger and better players and a more physical style of play.
“Some of the teams here are as good as anybody in (Hawaii),” Carvalho said. “Just hopefully, we can learn something. Maybe someone will put a move on them, and they’ll go home and practice harder.”
He originally planned to bring three teams to Jam On It, but after attrition he only ended up taking one squad. Hawaiian Sunset carries five players who last season helped the Dragons reach the HHSAA Division II semifinals and their first winning season since 2008. Carvalho credits that run, in part, to playing in Vegas last summer.
This week, Hawaiian Sunset has struggled while playing in the varsity division, but overcoming adversity is one of the points. Only one Honokaa guard, Kainalu Lau, is in Nevada, so 6-foot-2 Koa Callihan, a developing inside force in the BIIF, has gotten time at point guard.
“The referees here, they let a lot go. You have to learn to hold your composure,” Carvalho said. “I hope Koa learned something.
“Last season, I think he set a record fouling out in 11 of 14 games, The other three, he had four fouls. We’re working on a lot of stuff.”
So too is Honokaa girls coach Daphne Honma, whose Big Island All-Stars won their pool in the varsity level before falling to the consolations round.
Honma’s trip is a whirlwind tour, with six games in eight days, and in between the All-Stars visited UNLV and are taking in the sights, riding the roller coasters at New York-New York. The All-Stars begin the Las Vegas Showcase on Friday.
“This trip is a little bit more about building chemistry and learning to work together,” she said. “We are trying to develop players so they can get their college paid for.”
Recent Honokaa graduate Kizzah Maltezo was the first success, parlaying her time with the Dragons and All-Stars into a scholarship at Concordia in Portland, Oregon.
The standouts so far on this trip include Kawena Kaohimaunu, Apreal Ansagay, Azure Tolentino and Jaycie Carvalho. Each figures to lead Honokaa next season as it tries to crack Konawaena and Hilo atop BIIF Division I.
And Honma doesn’t worry at all about bringing them to Sin City.
“The kids have been brought up well, and we trust them (in Las Vegas),” Honma said. “They are enjoying the experience.”
She’s also keeping tabs on a sixth-grade girls team, Hawaii Select, coached by former Honokaa boys coach Cheyenne Meyer.
“They’ve had tough games but good experiences,” she said. “They lost a heart breaker by one, they lost in triple OT, and they lost by three.”
Also in Las Vegas are three Hoop Dreams Hawaii squads from Hilo, and Shut-D of Kailua-Kona, which is coached by new Kealakehe boys coach Benny Alcoran, Carvalho said.
In between tournaments, Hawaiian Sunset on Friday will watch Team USA play Argentina in a men’s Olympic tuneup at T-Mobile Arena.
