To the outside world, it looks like pickup basketball games, men on this court, women on that court, makeshift uniforms for the most part, but there’s an unmistakably solemn approach to the annual Labor Day Alumni Basketball Tournament at Panaewa that tells you it is something more than what it seems.
For the ninth consecutive year, basketball players from Hawaii schools — those with no more college eligibility — heard the call and came back for more.
It feels more like a gathering of the tribes than it does some pickup basketball event, when you see dozens of players and families converging for a renewal of the late summer tradition.
“It just came out of talking story with guys around pickup games and things like that,” co-director Bruce Ferreira said Monday. “What happened was that leagues and teams showed up all over and guys would join up and play, but we all missed playing with our old teammates and others who were from our school.
“Maybe we should organize alumni teams, that was the idea,” Ferreira said, “and that’s how it started, as simple as that.”
It was a well-received idea that attracted four schools the first year and has grown ever since. This year, there was a women’s division for the third year, an open men’s division and an over-35 men’s division.
And what tradition can be complete without an upset?
It happened this year for the first time when the Iolani squad failed to qualify for the men’s open championship, which was won, not surprisingly, by Man Up-Hilo, when the former Vikings posted an end-to-end 64-51 victory over Kamehameha Schools, which found itself tied at 10 after the first quarter and never got that close again.
In the women’s final, with a history of challenging games in their past, coach Daphne Honma’s Honokaa team turned away Konawaena, 40-36.
“It’s always fun to be a part of this, win or lose,” said Honma, but when prodded, added, “yeah, winning makes it more fun.
“This is kind of a celebration for a lot of these people, because for most all of them, basketball is a lifelong passion, it’s something you grow up with, fall in love with and you don’t want to let it go.
“This is the opportunity to get some of that feeling back, to return to the game,” she said, “no matter how old you are or how long it’s been, it’s still basketball.”
And it is still about youth, despite the fact that only post-college players are eligible. The tournament will award a $300 scholarship to one Hilo High School student and another of the same value to a student from the state that didn’t attend Hilo.
“We’re starting on next year right now,” said Jay Mandaquit, co-director and a member of the Man Up-Hilo team. “We had 16 teams (men’s open), at one point, then we lost a few just before the deadline, so we’re hoping to get at least 16 for next year, and we hope to keep building the women’s teams, too.”
The final game in the featured men’s open tournament went pretty much as one might guess with former UHH and Hilo High deep ball specialist Aukai Wong playing for Man Up-Hilo. Tied after the first quarter, Wong scored the next six points and KSH Alumni were never able to catch up.
The first time Wong touched the ball Monday, he attempted to take it to the rim and got tangled up in a defender’s legs on the way. He suffered a strain but managed to stay in the game for all but a few minutes, leading both teams with 38 points.
You had a hint he might have another good day before the game when Wong calmly swished seven consecutive 3-point shots from straight on, behind the key at about 30 feet.
In the waning seconds of the game, Wong put a capper on his effort when he hit nothing but net on a shot 40 feet from the hoop.
“It’s good to keep everyone engaged,” Wong, who recently accepted the assistant coaching position for the UHH men’s team, said after the game. “Always good to see more teams coming out, it keeps basketball alive at this time of year, gets people thinking about it, and that can only help.”
Mandaquit said entrance fees allow the tournament to “pay for itself,” with enough to cover officials and scorekeepers, “but it would be great if we could get a sponsor. We haven’t really worked at that much, but we might be ready to start down that road.”
Either way, the hoop tournament isn’t going away.
“We’re getting more of the younger ones involved,” Mandaquit said, “and we’re still trying to get the word out. It gets competitive out there, but everyone’s here to have fun and stay involved with basketball.”
If the game is a part of you, the season never ends, the return is a part of what you do each Labor Day, like an important tradition worthy of gathering the tribes.
