After missing his sophomore football season with an eye injury, Kala’i Kamalii showed up early and often at Hilo High’s conditioning program in February, “pushing and pushing” to try and make varsity.

Since Hilo High’s Riley Patterson was one of the most dangerous goal-scorers on the islands, and Hawaii Prep’s Sihkea Jim was the best defensive player on this island, it made sense that one shadowed the other every time they were adversaries on the soccer field.

The first big win will always be with Greg Meyer, but the last big win is still out there, somewhere.

Hilo High senior defensive lineman Isi Holani wasn’t a prime candidate to score a touchdown a handful of years ago when he blocked a punt and then picked it up and rumbled into the end zone at Kamehameha.

Few girls on the Big Island have ever been able to a run as fast or jump as high as Chenoa Frederick, but for all of her high-flying success, the Kamehameha senior does manage to keep herself grounded.

Being the interim coach is one thing, but being the head man of a Division II program is quite another.

A younger quartet of Hilo PONY League baseball teams didn’t have the home-field advantage their older brethren enjoyed last week, but a pair of teams didn’t need the Big Island boost Friday to thrive.

Anyone who has ever been in the vicinity of a Hilo High water polo match the past seven years has no doubt seen, or heard, how devoted Malia Tallett is to the sport.

If they follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, Clemson Julian, Noah Palea, Neil Colobong-Juayang, Quinn Waiki and company will be playing at a BIIF baseball field near you before you know it.

The University of Hawaii continues to boost the 2020 football-recruiting class with Hilo High’s Kilohana Haasenritter’s recent commitment.

Shon Malani’s seventh state PONY League baseball championship team is certainly his oldest, possibly his most complete and likely his most unflappable.

Coach Gavien DeMello’s pitching instructions to Kamren Agpalza were timeless and ageless to the game of baseball: just throw strikes.

There will be no pity party for Bo Saiki, no public demonstrations of outrage over a lack of recognition for the softball team at Waiakea High School that preceded his forced departure not so long ago.