[new: Sunday AM] Not as tough today as I'd expected. Kahuku and Waianae are improving considerably. On the verge of cracking my Top 25. Better yet, one (or both) of them could find a route to the state tourney.

[new: Saturday AM] Midway through the Iolani-Kamehameha game last night, I could not help thinking, "Great ... Kamehameha is in control of this game, up 12 ... Iolani's gonna lose and I'm gonna have to decide between Saint Louis and Punahou for my No. 1 vote ... when is this merry-go-round gonna end?" Of course, I was fretting over nothing. Iolani's comeback was nothing short of miraculous. And now, I can leave my ballot pretty much the same as it was last time.

[new: Thursday AM] Not a lot of games on the table last night, but some very key matchups. Kalaheo, the hottest team in the OIA Red East, solidified its place in the pecking order with an 18-point win over Moanalua. Punahou went to Saint Louis and won by 14. Hmm ...

[new: Wednesday AM] Aw cheewiz ... every time Moanalua moves up, they lose and move down ... every time Moanalua moves down, they win and move up. Enigma. That's what Na Menehune are. In slow, loud syllables out of the voice box of Dr. Evil, "Eeeniggggmaaaaaa."

[generic] 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 (16-6, 6-1 ILH)
The skinny: The Raiders escape from Kamehameha by the narrowest of margins. Time running out, 22-footer from the corner, no sweat for Ryan Dung.
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)
Maryknoll (61-45)
@ Mid-Pacific (59-43)
@ Punahou (72-63)
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: won at Kamehameha (42-41)

2. Punahou (18-3, 7-1 ILH)
The skinny: Buffanblu bounce back with decisive wins over Saint Louis and Kamehameha.
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)
Maryknoll (72-58)
Losses:
at Kalaheo (46-41)
Montrose Christian, Md. (69-57)
Iolani (72-63)
This week: won at Saint Louis (67-53); def. Kamehameha (61-52)

3. Saint Louis (15-4, 6-2 ILH)
The skinny: Crusaders face an uphill battle to capture an automatic state berth.
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) > Note: Arlington was ranked No. 13 in California
Maryknoll (54-48)
Kamehameha (49-39)
Iolani (51-48)
Damien (61-55)
@ Mid-Pacific (55-47)
Losses:
Kaimuki (52-47)
LeFlore (Mobile, Ala.) (81-46)
@ Punahou (65-47)
Damien (61-55)
@ Mid-Pacific (55-47)
This week: lost to Punahou (67-53); def. Maryknoll (54-37)

4. Kalaheo (19-7, 9-1 OIA Red East)
The skinny: Mustangs stop Moanalua and Kailua to edge closer to a first-round bye.
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)
@ Kahuku (80-55)
@ Kaimuki (69-61)
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)
@ Moanalua (54-48)
This week: won at Roosevelt (45-36); def. Moanalua (57-39); won at Kailua (55-49)

5. Keaau (17-5, 10-1 BIIF)
The skinny: Cougars fend off Kealakehe.
Wins:
Waiakea (61-44)
Hilo (58-49)
Kamehameha-Hawaii (55-43)
Christian Liberty
Kohala
Ka‘u (79-47)
Hawaii Prep (76-39)
Losses:
Honokaa (50-46)
This week: def. Konawaena (39-32); def. Kealakehe (56-47); won at Laupahoehoe (67-38)

6. Mililani (19-5, 10-0 OIA Red West)
The skinny: Trojans escape with a narrow win over Waianae.
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)
Leilehua (59-16)
@ Pearl City (50-34)
Kapolei (54-37)
Losses:
Fairfax, Los Angeles (96-24)
Kamehameha (57-38)
Radford (53-45)
Montrose Christian, Md. (72-41)
Leilehua (43-40)
This week: def. Waianae (68-63); won at Radford (70-52)

7. Honokaa (10-1 BIIF)
The skinny: Dragons on a roll again.
Wins:
Kahuku (65-27)
Moanalua (58-50)
@ Parker
@ Konawaena
Christian Liberty
Kamehameha-Hawaii (47-46)
@ Hilo (57-55)
Losses:
lost to Kohala (57-56, OT)
This week: def. St. Joseph (51-39); won at Ka‘u (76-44); def. Pahoa (67-46)

8. Kamehameha-Hawaii (19-6, 9-2 BIIF)
The skinny: Warriors stop the hot Kohala Cowboys.
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
@ Christian Liberty (83-25)
Laupahoehoe (63-23)
Losses:
Iolani (53-47)
Temecula (Calif.)
Montrose Christian (80-33)
Castle (58-56)
@ Keaau (55-43)
@ Honokaa (47-46 2 OT)
This week: def. Kohala (49-41); won at Kealakehe (42-38)

9. Moanalua (14-12, 7-3 OIA Red East)
The skinny: Na Menehune rally past a vastly-improving Kahuku squad on statewide TV.
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)
@ Kaimuki (64-62)
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: lost at Castle (58-56); lost at Kalaheo (57-39); def. Roosevelt (46-37); def. Kahuku (57-53) @ McKinley Gym

10. Kamehameha (8-13, 3-5 ILH)
The skinny: Warriors lose and move up my ballot? Yup. How many teams have a 12-point lead over the No. 1 squad in the state, and lose on a 22-footer with 3 seconds left? I'll stack up KS against any of the Top 10 teams.
Wins:
Roosevelt (49-35)
Moanalua (69-42)
Kahuku (58-25)
Mililani (57-38)
@ Mariner (Wash.) (46-33).
Mid-Pacific (53-45)
@ Damien (54-52)
Maryknoll (54-40)
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: lost to Iolani (42-41); lost at Punahou (61-52)

ON THE CUSP

11. Kaimuki (18-7, 6-4 OIA Red East)
The skinny: Bulldogs find a spark for a big win at Kailua.
Wins:
Maryknoll (64-52)
at McKinley (57-44)
at Radford (56-52)
Hilo (56-42)
Farrington (60-29)
Saint Louis (52-47) (Scott Smith DNP)
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)
Moanalua (64-62)
@ Roosevelt (46-43)
Kalaheo (69-61)
This week: won at Kailua (47-42); def. Castle (70-46)

12. Kohala (16-5, 9-2 BIIF)
The skinny: Cowboys slide five spots on my list after another tough loss in East Hawaii.
Wins:
Honokaa (57-56, OT)
@ Hilo (75-66)
Waiakea (73-56)
Losses:
This week: def. Christian Liberty (61-27); lost at Kamehameha-Hawaii (49-41); def. Ka‘u (59-39) @ Konawaena/Onizuka Gym

13. Kailua (12-9, 6-4 OIA Red East)
The skinny: Big rally falls short against rival Kalaheo.
Wins:
Roosevelt (53-35)
Castle (62-39)
This week: lost to Kaimuki (47-42); won at Kahuku (61-43); lost to Kalaheo (55-49) @ McKinley Gym

14. Radford (13-8, 7-3 OIA Red West)
The skinny: Pivotal matchup with unbeaten Mililani tonight.
Wins: at McKinley (56-49), Moanalua (53-51), Kamehameha (47-42), McKinley (67-39), Mililani (53-45), @ Kalani (60-48), @ Kapolei (59-39), Waianae, Campbell (50-47); at Leilehua (77-61).
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: won at Pearl City (59-35); def. Kapolei (58-33); lost to Mililani (70-52)

15. Kaiser (15-3, 9-1 OIA White)
The skinny: Cougars clearly the team to beat in the OIA White.
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), Nanakuli (58-33), @ Waialua (78-53).
Losses: Arlington, Calif. (73-59), North Torrance, Calif. (85-75), at McKinley (43-37). Note: Kaiser had just seven players suited up against Arlington.
This week: won at Kalani (63-46); def. Farrington (61-60)

16. McKinley (14-9, 6-3 OIA White)
The skinny: Key win over tough Thompson.
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), Kaiser (43-37), at Kalani (58-36).
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. Thompson (54-46); def. Kalani (68-51)

17. Konawaena (20-4, 9-2 BIIF)
The skinny: Wildcats survive Waiakea's comeback attempt.
Wins: Hilo, Kealakehe (64-50), Christian Liberty (93-26), at Pahoa (47-26).
Losses: Iolani (56-35), Honokaa (50-46).
This week: lost at Keaau (39-32); def. Waiakea (53-51); won at St. Joseph (36-31)

18. Kamehameha-Maui (6-0 MIL)
The skinny: Warriors could make history.
Wins: Baldwin (44-26), Maui (65-52).
This week: won at Lahainaluna (55-41)

19. Baldwin (9-10, 4-1 MIL)
The skinny: Chase Nakamura coming off the bench.
Wins: Nanakuli (64-19), @ King Kekaulike (58-53), at Lahainaluna (51-48).
Losses: Elsinore (Calif.) (55-41), Punahou (68-59), Kamehameha-Hawaii (59-45), Hilo (56-49), Kamehameha-Maui (44-26).
This week: n/a

20. Mid-Pacific (12-7, 3-3 ILH)
The skinny: Marcus Holyfield has produced against every foe. One of the top sophomores in the state.
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), at Kamehameha (53-45), Iolani (59-43), Saint Louis (55-47).
This week: def. Damien (69-40)

21. Campbell (13-10, 6-3 OIA Red West)
The skinny: Another close loss on the road.
Wins: @ Kapolei, at Kapolei (38-26), Leilehua (56-40).
Losses: @ Mililani (62-61, OT), Radford (50-47), lost at Radford (50-47)
This week: def. Waianae (59-53); def. Pearl City (51-45)

22. Maryknoll (12-11, 1-6 ILH)
The skinny: Spartans are talented, but languishing in the state's toughest league. Should a small school with no gym play in Division I of the ILH? In D-II, Maryknoll would be among the top three teams in the state.
Wins: @ Damien (44-41).
Losses: @ Saint Louis (54-48), @ Mid-Pacific (49-35), at Iolani (61-45), at Punahou (72-58), at Kamehameha (54-40).
This week: lost to Saint Louis (54-37) @ Iolani Gym

23. Aiea (17-4, 9-1 OIA White)
The skinny: Na Alii roll on with win over tough Waialua.
Wins: Kapolei (50-38), Punahou II (65-61), Nanakuli (61-42), Tamawanis (Canada) (69-41), Iolani II (62-45), Leilehua, Waipahu (80-67), Thompson (73-62).
(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: won at Nanakuli (84-45); won at Waialua (51-42)

24. Punahou II (13-3, 7-0 ILH Division II)
The skinny: D-II Buffanblu edge UHS.
Wins: Roosevelt (47-37), Kailua (55-52), Le Jardin (47-18), Le Jardin (47-18), Hanalani (72-52). def. Redemption.
Losses: Maryknoll (58-45).
This week: won at Iolani II (54-42); def. University (54-51); def. Kamehameha II (54-37)

25. University (15-3, 6-2 ILH Division II)
The skinny: Junior 'Bows fall at Punahou II and lose ground in the ILH D-II race.
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), Word of Life (53-36), Iolani II (41-29), Le Jardin (61-17).
Losses: Kaimuki (49-44), at Kamehameha II (53-50).
This week: lost at Punahou II (54-51); def. Saint Louis II (54-30) @ MPI Gym

BEST OF THE REST
Waianae
Kahuku
Waiakea
Farrington
Waimea
Waialua
Thompson
Damien
Roosevelt
Castle
Hilo
Waipahu
Kamehameha II

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