By Paul Honda
phonda@starbulletin.com

The good thing about what I do for a living is, I get to work from home most of the day. I still have my errands and my afternoon routine (pick up my nephew, take him home, then to practice, then home again if I'm not covering a game).

But when I do cover a game, you'd best be warned. I am a sick man, sneezing and/or coughing occasionally, so if I don't shake your hand, please don't take offense. I'm doing you a favor, unless you want to be achy in almost every joint in your body.

Despite my ill situation, staying focused during tonight's Iolani-Saint Louis game was not a problem. All my statistics added up nicely, and they showed that Iolani's defense set the tempo. Saint Louis, the only team in the ILH to give Iolani a loss, looked incredibly beatable. In fact, when Iolani was ahead 28-11, I was absolutely stunned.

Saint Louis got no closer than five the rest of the way, and it was interesting to see what its reserves, like mammoth Siunipa Fiefia Jr., were capable of. Fiefia is basically unstoppable on the box, nice hands and shooting touch, and he'll probably get a bit quicker in his next two years.

But for now, Iolani is clearly the best team in the state. The Raiders create chaos with their defense, more so than ever, and you have to wonder, this group of sharpshooting, hustling players just doesn't look like a dominant team if you look at them individually. Cameras just don't capture speed the way the human eye does from the sideline, from the bleachers.

Until some team figures out a way to consistently score against Iolani's high-pressure defense, a sixth state championship in a row is drawing closer for the Raiders.

And now, back to the aches and sniffling ...

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