By Paul Honda
Editor
Sunday, February 1, 2004

HONOLULU—Three leagues have relatively—and in one case, definitely—clear-cut frontrunners.

That leaves two leagues, the O’ahu Interscholastic Association and the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, with plenty of mystery and drama for the upcoming playoffs.

Those uncertainties have made their way into the HondaReport.com Boys' Basketball Top Ten throughout the season. While Iolani (24-2, 10-0 Interscholastic League of Honolulu) claimed all 18 first-place ballots Sunday, the rest of the poll continues to shuffle.

Punahou, coming off a successful week that includes a narrow win over Kamehameha-O’ahu, jumped one spot to No. 2. The Buff n’ Blue (21-5, 9-1 ILH) gained the confidence of voters who dropped Mililani to No. 3.

Mililani remained unbeaten in the OIA West (8-0, 18-1 overall), but a 76-72 overtime win over Kapolei may have tilted the scales in Punahou’s favor.

Kalaheo (17-5, 8-1 OIA East) remained No. 4. After that, the shuffling gets more whimsical. One voting head coach put it succinctly.

“It is very hard to vote after the top four. I think after Iolani and maybe Punahou, anybody can beat anybody,” he said. “It’s going to be a very interesting playoffs this year.”

Maui, with a big 50-40 win over previous co-leader Baldwin, improved to 8-0 in the Maui Interscholastic League. Senior Gene Rivera, who switched to point guard the past two weeks, has been nothing short of Magic-al on both ends of the floor as the Sabers moved up two spots in the HRC Top Ten to No. 5.

Kealakehe, now 10-0 in the BIIF, also vaulted two spots and is ranked No. 6.

Kahuku, Kamehameha-O’ahu, Waimea and Castle rounded out the Top Ten. Castle landed at No. 10 after a key win over previously unbeaten Kahuku last week.

Kaimuki, which lost to McKinley, and Baldwin dropped from the Top Ten.

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