As UH-Hilo gathered at its bench to discuss a final play, assistant coach Aukai Wong announced what Kupaa Harrison was already thinking: “It’s Kobe time.”

WAIMEA – In the end, it was hard for Waiakea’s Kiai Apele to leave the rock.

WAIMEA — This was an expectation but far from just another step along the way for Hawaii Prep.

The boys basketball teams from Hawaii Prep and Kohala are on track for an undefeated Division II clash next week in the renewal of their North Hawaii rivalry, and so far none of the BIIF’s Division I teams have been able to slow them down.

Caiyle Kaupu and the Konawaena girls basketball team earned a hard-fought victory at Hilo High in mid-December to open the regular season, and then they had every reason to take it easy.

Twitter has become social media invaded by foreign trolls, meaning us harm, an ongoing platform filled with ill-mannered, inelegant and irksome commentary we see on a daily basis.

Locked in a tight road contest at Konawaena on Friday night, Kamehameha was in about as good a spot as it could have hoped: Izayah Chartrand-Penera had the game in his hands as time was running out.

His teammates call him “KG” – though he was a youngster when former NBA star Kevin Garnett was enjoying his prime – and his parents call him Jamal.

Ka’ena Tagabi got Honokaa’s girls basketball team over the hump after a lot of heavy lifting was put in by Saige Tabac and Kristen Ragasa.

UH-Hilo’s Kupaa Harrison dribbled to the basket to provide a game-ending exclamation point and instead ended up with a bit of question mark.

Nobody keeps track of such things in high school, college or the professional ranks, but there’s a common understanding that when a new coach takes over an athletic program, there’s a good chance that not everything has gone well.