Honolulu, Hi
basketball season is near as the McKinley high school hosted it's annual black and gold tournament. many teams around the island participated in the preseason match in hopes of fine-tuning their game ahead of the regular season.
a lot of familiar faces were seen on the court, but some were seen with new threads and facing former teams. the tournament would feature the host McKinley tigers, campbell sabers, 'iolani raiders, Leilehua mules, mid-pacific institute, Kapolei hurricanes, kalani falcons, maryknoll spartans, Hawaii baptist academy eagles, kamehameha-kapalama warriors, konawaena wildcats, and springbank of Alberta, Canada.
day 1:
Overtime Drama
Konawaena and Maryknoll faced off in the preseason matchup and this could potentially become a State Semifinal match up. the wildcats of konawaena would see a familiar player on the court but in different threads. maryknoll spartans, haikela "joey" hiraishi, was a former member of the wildcats before transferring to Oahu. the senior guard helped the lady wildcats reach the hhsaa state semifinal match before falling to the 'iolani raiders.
the matchup would be interesting to see, as both hiraishi and konawaena would know each other play style very well. the Spartans also led by pua Harrington, had been a player building her performance and being a player to watch. after last seasons performance, Harrington would look to take the Spartans to the postseason and make a run for the koa wood trophy.
the game would start off strong for the Spartans as they would led majority of the game. it would be until the 4th quarter where the wildcats would chip away the spartans lead and eventually force an overtime period. wildcats senior guard, mikela Harrell, would help lift the wildcats past the spartans and get the dub.
Final Score: Konawaena 52 - Maryknoll 45
Old Fashioned ‘Iolani
the ‘Iolani raiders and Campbell sabers finished off the night at the Black and Gold Tournament hosted by McKinley High School. we would see a classic ‘Iolani team that dominated with the press and fast paced offense. the lady raiders looked to start this tournament off strong after last seasons outcome. as for the sabers, they look to continue last year run after making it to the hhsaa state semifinals.
after falling short to kamehamhea-kapalama in the hhsaa d1 state championship game last season, the raiders led by junior, justice kekauoha, would look to get back into the title game. the hopes of bringing the koa wood back to 'iolani starts with the preseason matches that they have scheduled ahead. in what could've been a 6 peat state championship, the lady raiders uses the loss as motivation to improve on the season.
as for the campbell sabers, they look to get back into the oia contention for the oia plaque and hopefully get a title shot in February for the koa wood. the lady sabers are led by 4 year varsity starters, jaynalyn Sotelo and Cayden parado. the dynamic duo have been a threat to stop. this year, they are also adding the addition of former kahuku red raider and back to back oia champion, Makana kamakeeaina. the lady sabers are aiming to lift the oia plaque once again with the new additions of the team. the former back to back champs were on Path to lifting their third straight oia plaque before falling short to current back to back champs of Kahuku, back in 2024.
the 'iolani raiders would get a great start to the game. Justice Kekauouha and Rayah Soriano would open up the offensive presence for the Raiders gaining the lead early on and never looking back. ‘Iolani would walk away with this game and open up their preseason undefeated. as the preseason continues, the journey to February begins now as teams across the island look to see themselves lift the koa wood trophy and be named state champions.
Final Score: ‘Iolani 47 - Campbell 38
for more pictures, head over to our photo gallery
pictures taken by: Alan Velasco - @oscalev_
