By Paul Honda
paul@hondareport.com
Monday, Jan. 22, 2007

A look back, in case you don't go to the forums on this site, at my boys basketball ballot for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin Top 10.

I tweak and re-tune my ballot daily in the forum. Try to, anyway. It's always more a labor of art than a process of science.

[new: Sunday AM] It is 11:52 p.m., actually, still Saturday night as I look over the scores. Iolani over Punahou? Hmmm ... so much for running the table in the state's toughest league. Kalaheo over Kaimuki? Home team (Kaimuki) should win the 'pick-'em' games, but Kalaheo now has a sweep over the Bulldogs in OIA play. ... Kailua rolls over Castle. Big season for the Surfriders (is Ryan Naluai the sleeper of the state?). Disappointing for the Knights, who showed so much promise in that upset win over Kamehameha-Hawaii just three weeks ago. ... Roosevelt follows up on its upset of Kaimuki with a loss to Kahuku. ... Aiea over Thompson in a shootout (73-62, by today's standards, is a lot of points). ... Kaiser bounces back with a 25-point rout of a decent Waialua squad. ... And Kalani notches its first league win of the season. ... Now, what to do with my No. 1 pick?

[new: Friday AM] I'm convinced that if any Division II team makes it back into the Top 10, it will probably be a team from the BIIF or OIA. Why? In the OIA, the label of D-I or D-II is little more than that. Just a label. In the BIIF, small schools like Kohala have been in the upper tier of the league for decades. The Cowboys knocked off Honokaa earlier this week at the Dragons' lair. Honokaa had already beaten Keaau and Konawaena. It is certainly within the realm of possibility that Kohala could reach the D-II state semifinals and win the whole deal.

[Wednesday AM] Oh shoot ... is there a Star-Bulletin Top 10 curse? As soon as Kaiser and University finally arrive in the Top 10, BAMM!! Kaiser gets toppled at McKinley, and Kamehameha II cuts down UHS. Curse? Hmmm . . . the sad thing is, the history of Top 10 voters (regardless of sport) is that they are slow to vote in Division II teams, and oh, so quick to banish them once they lose. Case in point: Punahou II girls basketball team last spring, unbeaten through most of the league schedule. Once they lost in league play (to another D-II team), they never returned to the poll.

I'll be updating my ballot for the week each day for everyone's viewing pleasure (and/or displeasure). Ballots for the Star-Bulletin Top 10 are due Sunday, 3 p.m.

1. Iolani (15-6, 5-1 ILH)
or, as I like to say, 1a.
The skinny: The top three are so close, only a DNA test could distinguish one from the other. Iolani gets the call based on the win at Punahou on Saturday. Yes, at this level, it's sometimes about what you've done for me lately. (Blatant Paula Abdul reference.)
Wins:
Senior Tawanawis (Canada)
Kamehameha-Hawaii (53-47)
Keaau (50-30)
Konawaena (56-35)
McKinley (66-30)
White Station (Memphis, Tenn.) (61-46)
Vincent (Milwaukee, Wis.) (46-45)
Thompson (68-47)
Keaau (51-46)
Kamehameha (44-38 2 OT)
Damien (56-40)
Losses:
Moanalua (56-55)
Box Hill Secondary (Australia)*
LeFlore (Mobile, Ala.) (58-27)
El Toro, Calif. (55-52)
Timpview, Utah (57-55 OT)
at Saint Louis (51-48)
Note: Timpview was ranked No. 3 in Utah.
* This game included international rule adjustments.
This week: def. Maryknoll (61-45); won at Mid-Pacific (59-43); won at Punahou (72-63).

2. Punahou (16-3, 5-1 ILH)
truly, 1b.
The skinny: Not that the Buffanblu lack any sense of urgency, but the loss to Iolani will only sharpen their resolve.
Wins:
Pearl City (60-30)
Kamehameha (55-50)
Leilehua (70-32)
Radford (66-56)
Kalaheo (58-54)
Thompson (90-39)
St. Mary's, N.Y. (81-75)
Villa Park, Calif. (61-58)
Timpview, Utah (65-64)
Baldwin (68-59)
Kalaheo (56-51)
Saint Louis (65-47)
at Kamehameha (51-45)
def. Mid-Pacific (81-63)
def. Damien (85-51)
Losses:
at Kalaheo (46-41)
Montrose Christian, Md. (69-57)
This week: def. Maryknoll (72-58); lost to Iolani (72-63).

3. Saint Louis (14-3, 5-1 ILH)
or as I like to say, 1c.
The skinny: No gimmies in the ILH. Crusaders escape with a 6-point win over Damien, 8-point win at Mid-Pac.
Wins:
Roosevelt (64-35)
Waipahu (67-49)
Radford (n/a)
Radford (57-47)
Moanalua (77-58)
Kaimuki (59-51)
Listowel (Canada) (77-24)
North Torrance (Calif.) (93-82)
Arlington, Calif. (72-70)
Maryknoll (54-48)
Kamehameha (49-39)
Iolani (51-48)
Note: Arlington was ranked No. 13 in California.
Losses:
Kaimuki (52-47)
LeFlore (Mobile, Ala.) (81-46)
@ Punahou (65-47)
This week: def. Damien (61-55); won at Mid-Pacific (55-47).

4. Kalaheo (16-7, 6-1 OIA Red East)
The skinny: Mustangs finding their stride. Blowout win at Kahuku makes it five wins in a row.
Wins:
Maryknoll (69-56)
Strathcona (Canada) (75-33)
Moanalua (68-59)
Punahou (46-41)
Honokaa (65-27)
Kamehameha (69-59)
Farrington (56-44)
Elko, Nev. (46-43)
Keaau (44-36)
Castle (58-41)
Kaimuki (58-41)
Kailua (54-40)
Castle (78-51)
Losses:
Punahou (58-54)
Mojave (Las Vegas, Nev.) (80-71)
Marshall (Portland, Ore.) (71-69)
Las Vegas Valley, Nev. (85-69)
El Toro, Calif. (53-45)
Punahou (56-51)
This week: won at Kahuku (80-55); vs. Moanalua, Thursday, postponed to Wednesday, Jan. 24; won at Kaimuki (69-61).

5. Keaau (14-5, 7-1 BIIF)
The skinny: Cougars take care of business.
Wins:
Waiakea (61-44)
Hilo (58-49)
Kamehameha-Hawaii (55-43)
Christian Liberty
Kohala
Losses:
Honokaa (50-46)
This week: def. Ka‘u (79-47); def. Hawaii Prep (76-39).

6. Moanalua (12-10, 5-1 OIA Red East)
The skinny: Game with Kalaheo postponed, which means a little break before Na Menehune play four games next week.
Wins:
@ Iolani (56-55)
Maryknoll (69-53)
Leilehua (46-35)
McKinley (55-48)
Kamehameha (58-42)
Hawaii Baptist (60-47)
Campbell (53-47)
Kalaheo (54-48)
@ Roosevelt (64-45)
Kahuku (58-42)
Kailua (42-41)
Losses:
@ Kalaheo (68-59)
Kamehameha (69-42)
@ Radford (53-51)
Honokaa (57-50)
University (47-46)
White Station (Memphis, Tenn.) (64-44)
Saint Louis (77-58)
McKinley (45-39)
This week: won at Kaimuki (64-62); at Kalaheo, Thursday, postponed to Wednesday, Jan. 24

7. Mililani (17-5, 8-0 OIA Red West)
The skinny: Trojans march through Pearl City and Kapolei, but I think of them in a similar light to University and Kaiser. They have yet to beat an upper-tier team, which means that any loss in the OIA Red West would send them downward. Way down.
Wins:
Damien (61-51)
@ Kahuku
@ Waialua
Campbell (65-64)
Nanakuli (62-38)
Thompson (57-53)
@ Kapolei (42-25)
@ Waianae (70-58)
Radford (77-74, 2 OT)
Campbell (62-61, OT)
Losses:
Fairfax, Los Angeles (96-24)
Kamehameha (57-38)
Radford (53-45)
Montrose Christian, Md. (72-41)
Leilehua (43-40)
This week: def. Leilehua (59-16); won at Pearl City (50-34); def. Kapolei (54-37).

8. Kohala (14-4, 7-1 BIIF)
The skinny: Cowboys are gaining momentum. They played tough at Keaau, and went to Honokaa and knocked down the Dragons on Tuesday, and beat Hilo and Waiakea. No surprise since the guard-heavy program finally has 6-5 and 6-3 bookends. Ikaika Kahoopii (30 points against Hilo) is the best-kept secret in the state.
This week: won at Honokaa (57-56, OT); won at Hilo (75-66); def. Waiakea (73-56).

9. Honokaa (7-1 BIIF)
The skinny: Dragons fall at home to Kohala, pull out big wins over KS-Hawaii and Hilo.
Among their other wins: Kahuku (65-27) and Moanalua (58-50).
Wins: won at Parker; won at Konawaena; def. Christian Liberty.
This week: lost to Kohala (57-56, OT); def. Kamehameha-Hawaii (47-46); won at Hilo (57-55).

10. Kailua (11-7, 5-2 OIA Red East)
The skinny: Surfriders are playing well. Blowout win at Kahuku. One-point win at Moanalua. One-point loss at Kaimuki. Took care of business with a solid win over resurgent Castle.
This week: def. Roosevelt (53-35); def. Castle (62-39).

ON THE CUSP

11. Kamehameha-Hawaii (17-6, 7-2 BIIF)
The skinny: When you are the league favorite, everyone takes aim with their best shot. The loss at Honokaa probably won't derail the Warriors; few teams can win at Lester Bryan Armory.
Wins:
Parker (86-12)
St. Joseph (64-42)
Kohala (54-45)
Campbell (63-50)
Kaimuki (42-40)
Hilo (65-40)
Waiakea (58-31)
Keaau 'A' (54-43)
Leilehua (42-25)
Baldwin (59-45)
Ka‘u (79-31)
Waiakea
@ Hawaii Prep
Losses:
Iolani (53-47)
Temecula (Calif.)
Montrose Christian (80-33)
Castle (58-56)
@ Keaau (55-43)
This week: won at Christian Liberty (83-25); lost at Honokaa (47-46 2 OT); def. Laupahoehoe (63-23).

12. Kamehameha (8-11, 3-3 ILH)
The skinny: Mission accomplished for the week: Warriors regain momentum.
Wins:
Roosevelt (49-35)
Moanalua (69-42)
Kahuku (58-25)
Mililani (57-38)
@ Mariner (Wash.) (46-33).
Losses:
Punahou (55-50)
Kalaheo (69-59)
Radford (47-42)
Vincent (Milwaukee, Wisc.) (73-45)
Kaimuki (60-51)
Moanalua (58-42)
@ Snohomish, Wash. (66-49)
@ Roosevelt (Wash.)
@ Iolani (44-38 2 OT)
@ Saint Louis (49-39).
This week: def. Mid-Pacific (53-45); won at Damien (54-52); def. Maryknoll (54-40).

13. Kaimuki (16-7, 4-4 OIA Red East)
The skinny: Losses to Moanalua, Roosevelt and Kalaheo (at home) have the Bulldogs in a lull. When will the real 'Dogs show up?
Wins:
Maryknoll (64-52)
at McKinley (57-44)
at Radford (56-52)
Hilo (56-42)
Farrington (60-29)
Saint Louis (52-47)
University (49-44)
Hilltop (Calif.) (70-62)
Campbell (65-47)
Kamehameha (60-51)
Hamamatsu (82-38)
Pearl City (n/a)
Roosevelt (66-43)
@ Castle (70-41).
Kahuku (59-56)
Losses:
Kamehameha-Hawaii (42-40)
Roman Catholic (Philadelphia) (68-59)
Saint Louis (59-51)
@ Kalaheo (58-41).
This week: lost to Moanalua (64-62); lost at Roosevelt (46-43); lost to Kalaheo (69-61).

14. Radford (11-7, 5-2 OIA Red West)
The skinny: Rams bounce back with wins over Campbell and Leilehua.
Wins: at McKinley (56-49), Moanalua (53-51), Kamehameha (47-42), McKinley (67-39), Mililani (53-45), @ Kalani (60-48), @ Kapolei (59-39), Waianae
Losses: Kaimuki (56-52), Punahou (66-56), at Saint Louis (n/a), St. Dominic (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) (55-41), Saint Louis (57-47), Leilehua (44-43 OT).
This week: def. Campbell (50-47); won at Leilehua (77-61).

15. Kaiser (13-3, 7-1 OIA White)
The skinny: Cougars bounce back from the loss at McKinley. As solid as McKinley is, I'm convinced that Kaiser would give the top 3 in the ILH a better run than Maryknoll did this week.
Wins: Leilehua, Damien (55-49), Word of Life (47-38), Kamehameha II (64-52), Saint Louis II (score n/a), Lick-Wilmerding (Canada) (60-37), Waipahu (64-51), @ Farrington (56-50), @ Aiea (69-64), @ Kalani (69-43), Thompson (60-55),
Losses: Arlington, Calif. (73-59), North Torrance, Calif. (85-75). Note: Kaiser had just seven players suited up against Arlington.
This week: lost at McKinley (43-37); def. Nanakuli (58-33); won at Waialua (78-53).

16. McKinley (12-9, 4-3 OIA White)
The skinny: Tigers have been terrific in spots, but a strong finish in league play would make life easier. They can nab a state berth the easy way or the hard way.
Wins: Kapolei (52-26), Roosevelt (49-48), Pearl City (42-30), Mid-Pacific (39-37), Campbell (53-43), Damien (41-34), @ Moanalua (45-39), Farrington (48-34).
Losses: Kaimuki (57-44), Radford (56-49), University (47-41), Iolani (66-30), Moanalua (55-48), Radford (67-39), Thompson (59-54).
This week: def. Kaiser (43-37); won at Kalani (58-36).

17. Konawaena (18-3, 7-1 BIIF)
The skinny: Wildcats a solid favorite against Christian Liberty. The trip to Pahoa, however, could be dramatic.
Wins: Hilo.
Losses: Iolani (56-35), Honokaa (50-46).
This week: def. Kealakehe (64-50); def. Christian Liberty (93-26); won at Pahoa (47-26).

18. Kamehameha-Maui (3-0 MIL)
The skinny: Warriors could make history.
Wins: def. Baldwin (44-26)
This week: vs. Maui, Saturday, 7 p.m.

19. Baldwin (9-10, 4-1 MIL)
The skinny: Bears were down, not out. Win at Lahainaluna (without Chase Nakamura) is a confidence booster.
Wins: Nanakuli (64-19), @ King Kekaulike (58-53)..
Losses: Elsinore (Calif.) (55-41), Punahou (68-59), Kamehameha-Hawaii (59-45), Hilo (56-49), Kamehameha-Maui (44-26).
This week: won at Lahainaluna (51-48).

20. Mid-Pacific (11-7, 2-3 ILH)
The skinny: Coach O'Connell's squad is so close to turning the corner, but it was a rough week no matter how you look at it.
Wins: @ Farrington (65-40), @ Kailua (77-48), Kalani (74-49), Kalani (64-42), Waipahu (44-38), Word of Life (65-46), Iolani II (58-40), Maryknoll (49-35).
Losses: @ McKinley (39-37), Benson Tech (Ore.) (58-52), Punahou II (59-44), Campbell (52-49).
This week: lost at Kamehameha (53-45); lost to Iolani (59-43); lost to Saint Louis (55-47).

21. Campbell (11-10, 4-3 OIA Red West)
The skinny: Another close loss on the road.
Wins: @ Kapolei
Losses: @ Mililani (62-61, OT), Radford (50-47)
This week: lost at Radford (50-47); won at Kapolei (38-26); def. Leilehua (56-40).

22. Maryknoll (12-10, 1-5 ILH)
The skinny: Tough week, tough losses. Jordan Ho-Ching finally broke out with a 30-point performance against Punahou, but the loss at Kamehameha has to sting.
Wins: @ Damien (44-41).
Losses: @ Saint Louis (54-48), @ Mid-Pacific (49-35).
This week: lost at Iolani (61-45); lost at Punahou (72-58); lost at Kamehameha (54-40).

23. Aiea (15-4, 7-1 OIA White)
The skinny: Na Alii have beaten some solid teams, including Punahou II and Kailua.
Wins: Kapolei (50-38), Punahou II (65-61), Nanakuli (61-42), Tamawanis (Canada) (69-41), Iolani II (62-45), Leilehua (58-48), Kahuku (77-60), Kailua (56-49), @ Farrington (65-63 OT), McKinley (69-64). Nanakuli (58-30), @ Kalani, Waialua.
Losses: Campbell (64-61), Maryknoll (73-51), Farrington (56-55), Kaiser (69-64).
This week: def. Waipahu (80-67); def. Thompson (73-62).

24. Punahou II (10-3, 4-0 ILH Division II)
The skinny: Among their wins — 59-44 over Mid-Pacific.
Wins: Roosevelt (47-37), Kailua (55-52), Le Jardin (47-18).
Losses: Maryknoll (58-45).
This week: def. Le Jardin (47-18); def. Hanalani (72-52); vs. Redemption, Saturday, 6:30 p.m.

25. University (13-2, 4-1 ILH Division II)
The skinny: Is it the Top 10 jinx? After landing at No. 9 in the Star-Bulletin Top 10 (and No. 7 on my ballot), the Junior 'Bows fall at Kamehameha II. UHS bounced back with a win over Word of Life.
Wins: @ Waipahu (46-39), @ McKinley (47-41), Waipahu (40-38), @ Waialua (53-37), @ Moanalua (47-46), Hana (59-21), Lanai (49-33), Seabury Hall (50-38), Lanakila Baptist (65-48), @ Hanalani (42-30), Redemption (86-30).
Losses: Kaimuki (49-44).
This week: lost at Kamehameha II (53-50); def. Word of Life (53-36); vs. Iolani II, Saturday (HBA Gym), 6 p.m.

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