KALAHEO – The reappearance of Kaua‘i boy Kahua Hollinger from Kilauea was one of the highlights of the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association (KYBA) 8th Annual Kaua‘i Invitational Tournament that kicked off with a marathon four games, Thursday night at the
KALAHEO – The reappearance of Kaua‘i boy Kahua Hollinger from Kilauea was one of the highlights of the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association (KYBA) 8th Annual Kaua‘i Invitational Tournament that kicked off with a marathon four games, Thursday night at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
Kenneth Tangjian, coach for the Puuloa Bandits, one of three off-island teams playing in the tournament, said he saw Hollinger playing at the HHSAA state boys basketball tournament on O‘ahu, and when he approached Hollinger about possibly joining his Kaua‘i-bound squad, there was no hesitation in his positive reply.
Tangjian, who has brought teams to Kaua‘i in previous tournaments, said the whole experience is a great one, not only for his players, but also for the Kaua‘i people as a steady stream of people passed through the neighborhood center, each group coinciding with teams they supported.
“I want to thank Karen (Matsumoto) for taking the initiative to organize this event,” Tangjian said. “It’s a big project, but without her and her support group, where would we be?”
The Puuloa Bandits are being housed at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center with some of the other teams being accomodated at the Waimea Clubhouse, according to Karen.
Hollinger, who was seen hugging and shaking hands with old-time acquaintances prior to their game against the Kapa‘a Warriors, took the floor as one of the starters for the Bandits and finished with 14 points in their 57-37 victory over Kapa‘a.
Coach Antonio Pope of the Westside Hornet program noted, “They should have a statistician keeping track of ‘assists,’ because he (Hollinger) is going to lead that category.”
Hollinger’s 14 points topped the Bandits scoring with Mike Makinano adding a dozen marks in their winning effort.
Mike Lindsey notched 10 points to lead the Kapa‘a effort.
The Bandits’ victory set the stage for a show-down against the Kaua‘i Basketball squad that handily controlled the Gametime Kings, another off-island squad that drew a lot of attention by their bright orange outfits.
Paced by the 27-point performance of KIF all-star Va‘afuti Tavana, Kalaheo rocketed to a 27-3 first quarter enroute to their 65-54 win over the Kings.
Josh Bradbury knocked in 13 first-half points with Jeremy Manuel adding a dozen points in the win.
Gary Satterwhite finished with 12 points in the Gametime Kings’ effort with Algin Haynes and Antonio Williams each chipping in eight markers.
Coach Pope noted that the Lihu‘e Breakaway coached by Billy Ramos, one of the youngest teams in the tournament, would provide a great match-up against Ikaika Basketball, the third off-island team in the tourney.
And, Pope was right in his observation as the Breakaway and Ikaika matched point for point throughout the first half before Ikaika chipped out a hard-fought 65-51 win in the final quarter behind 12-point contributions from Noel Okuma, Stephen Kina, and Will Birdsong.
Basil Walton finished with a game-high 16 points to lead the Breakaway effort.
Earlier in the evening, coach Neil Pigao and Paul Barba were worried that two of their players could not be on the court due to prior commitments, but that did not stop Waimea from taking a 52-26 win over Jeff Venzon’s ZZ in the tourney opener.
Aaron Hesapene broke away for 23 points to lead Waimea with Brendan McDaniels adding 10 points in the win.
Garren Venzon finished with 12, and John Penn added 10 points for the ZZ effort.
The three-day tournament concludes Saturday afternoon with the championship contest tipping off at 5 p.m.
Consolation games start at 2 p.m. with the third place contest slated to start at 4 p.m. at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
