Thursday, May 28, 2009

St. Anthony football suffers setback

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

You could see in coming in the face of the school's declining enrollment. Finally, and sadly, it did come to pass.

After several years of battling – and barely surviving – the numbers game, St. Anthony has officially announced that it would not be fielding a varsity football team for the coming season.

It will mark the first time the Trojans will not compete on the gridiron since 1943.

The Trojans, however, are planning to create a club team to play 8-man football in hopes of encouraging other small schools -- both in the MIL and around the state -- to do the same.

But that's going to take time and money, of which there seems to be little of in the current economic climate.

With St. Anthony out of the picture, the MIL will play a double round-robin schedule for the coming season, with Baldwin, King Kekaulike and Maui High competing in Division-I and Lahainaluna and Kamehameha-Maui playing in D-II.

FORFEIT: Kealakehe was stripped of its Big Island D-I football title after the Kona-based school self-reported using an ineligible player last season. A Mainland transfer who also had been home-schooled participated as a fifth-year high school student. As a result, Kealakehe's record went from 9-3 to 0-12 and deprived the Warriors of a league title. Kealakehe lost to Farrington in the first round of the state D-I tournament.

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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Long-suffering Clippers hit lottery

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

Congratulations to the long-suffering Los Angeles Clippers for winning the NBA lottery Tuesday night and earning the right to select Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin, the player overwhelming ranked as the best in this year's draft class.

And condolences to the Sacramento Kings, who despite finishing with a league-worst 17-65 record, still missed out on a player that might have helped return this struggling franchise to its former level of success and relevancy. Despite a 25 percent chance to secure the top pick, Sacramento fell to fourth.

Not since 2004, which Orlando landed Dwight Howard, has the team with the worst record landed the first pick. I guess that's why they call it a lottery.

That's exactly why Jerry West, the former general manager for the Lakers and Grizzlies, blasted the system in 2007, when Memphis also had the best chance to win one of the most anticipated lotteries ever and ended up falling to the fourth pick.

Boston didn't like it much either that night, since they had the second-best shot at Greg Oden or Kevin Durant, and settled for the No. 5 pick. That came 10 years after Boston missed out on Tim Duncan despite the best odds of winning the lottery.

Picking behind the Clippers will be Memphis and Oklahoma City, with Washington getting the fifth selection, followed by Minnesota, Golden State and the Knicks.

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Tuesday, May 19, 2009

West picks LeBron over Kobe

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

Kobe or Lebron? The debate continues to rage over whom is the best player in the NBA.

Jerry West, a Hall of Fame player who as a GM was responsible for engineering a deal that brought Kobe Bryant to LA, weighed in on the question. His response may surprise some – particularly those who are ardent fans of the Lakers.

"I look at Cleveland [and] say to myself, 'How many games could they win without LeBron James?' West said. "That's how great he is. He has a chance to be arguably the greatest player ever to play the game."

West considers Michael Jordan the NBA's all-time greatest player because he was the league's top defensive player and its best offensive player, further noting that James is developing into that type of performer.

"If you look at basketball today, it's not always the big guys that win for you, it's the intermediate-size guys," West said. "[He] can play four positions if you ask him to do so, and his ability to get everyone involved in the game is just remarkable for someone his age. I don't know if there's a better athlete I've ever seen play professional basketball."

"If I had to have somebody make a last-second shot, it would be Kobe Bryant," said West. "But even though it's hard for me to be objective, because I brought Kobe to Los Angeles, I do think LeBron has surpassed Kobe as a player."

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Monday, May 18, 2009

MIL strikes gold in state track

By Fred Guman
ESPN550.com

Living up to expectations is never easy, but a number of MIL athletes rose to the occasion at the state high school track and field championships held over the weekend at Ke'eau High School on the Big Island.

The MIL combined to win eight gold medals – six of them claimed by King Kekaulike. Leading the way were a pair of Na Alii senior classmates and distance runners.

Bailey Massenburg repeated as champion in both the 800 and 1,500 meters in addition to running a leg on the victorious 1,600 relay team. Massenburg, who is also a standout in cross country, claimed six state titles over the past two academic years.

Reid Hunter also won the 800 and set a state record in the 1,500 with a time of 4 minutes, 3.98 seconds.

Yet another Na Alii – Jay-Ar Agabay – registered perhaps the biggest upset of the meet when he won the high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 6 inches. His previous best was 6-1.

St. Anthony's Billy Pacheco took top honors in the pole vault.

St. Louis captured the state boy's team title by finishing third in the final race of the meet, the 1,600 relay, to edge out ILH rival Punahou. The Punahou girls won only two individual races but placed in 10 of 16 events to easily win the team title.

VOLLEYBALLL Seabury Hall settled for fourth place in Division-II while Kamehameha-Maui finished sixth in D-I at the stage boy's volleyball tournament.

GOLF: Michelle Wie struggled in the final round, firing a 1-over 73, but still finished in a tie for third place in the Sybase Classic in New Jersey. Wie was 80under for the tournament, trailing winner Ji Young Oh, a 20-year-old from South Korea, by six strokes. Runner-up Suzan Petterson was four back.

UH BASEBALL: The University of Hawaii suffered its second lopsided home loss in as many days to lowly regarded Utah Valley in Sunday's regular-season finale. The 10-2 setback came on the heels of a 12-1 loss on Saturday, dropping UH's record to 31-24 overall going into the WAC tournament that opens Thursday at Les Murakami Stadium. The Wolverines improved to 18-35 for the season.

Thursday's first-round matchups: Nevada versus regular-season champion San Jose State at 11 a.m., followed by New Mexico State versus defending NCAA champ Fresno State at 3, and UH versus second-seeded Louisiana Tech at 7.

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Thursday, May 14, 2009

Baldwin reaches softball semifinals

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

Baldwin advanced to the semifinals of the state girls Division-I softball tournament with a 3-1 win over Mid-Pacific last night at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

The third-seeded Bears were limited to three hits, but made the most of them by scoring all of their run in the sixth inning to earn a berth opposite second-seeded Roosevelt, a 5-4 winner over Sacred Hearts.

Kamehameha-Maui was knocked out of the D-I tourney following a 4-1 consolation bracket loss to Campbell.

In D-II, fourth-seeded Molokai was the victim of an 11-0, no-hit loss in the quarterfinals to Kaiser. The Farmers face Kalaheo today at 5 p.m. Hana was eliminated in a tie-breaker after playing Kalani to an 8-8 tie.

In boy's volleyball, Baldwin received a rude welcome in its first tourney appearance in 11 years. The Bears were swept – 25-8, 25-14, 25-11 by Kamehameha-Kapalama. The Bears will face Pearl City in a 3 p.m. consolation bracket game today.

The MIL's two champs are in action today. In D-I, fourth-seeded Kamehameha-Maui meets Kamehameha-Hawaii at 5 p.m. Seabury, seeded third in D-II, meets Waipahu at the same time.

Baldwin's Justin Keiley finished sixth and Kamehameha-Maui freshman Aaron Kunimoto seventh in the state golf tourney at the Royal Kaanapali. Iolani's Lorens Chan won with a 143 – four up on Keiley and five ahead of Kunimoto, leading his Raiders to the team title. Baldwin was fifth, 29 strokes behind the champion.

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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Favre reprises annual Hamlet role

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

He's Hamlet in shoulder pads. We are alluding, of course, to the Shakesperean indecisiveness of Brett Farve. Even his long-time worshippers – both fans and in the media – have wearied with Favre's annual "to play, or not to play" soliloquy.

Sharing the stage with Favre this time in this all-too-familiar annual scene are the Minnesota Vikings, who figure they are just a quarterback away from making a strong run to the Super Bowl.

The problem is that the Brett Favre that lives in our imaginations is not the same guy who was quarterbacking the Jets last season. This not the same quarterback that led Green Bay to a title. But that was a decade ago. Instead, the Vikings are lusting for a 40-year-old with an ailing wing and a diva-like disposition.

After a nasty split with the Packers, Favre was traded to the Jets. He started well, but he and the team nosedived down the stretch. New York lost four of its final five, finishing out of the playoffs. During that span, Favre threw nine picks, two touchdowns and had a passer rating of 54.4. He finished with a rating of 81.0. By comparison, the much-maligned Tarvaris Jackson's rating was 95.4.

In three of the last four years, Favre has failed to throw more TD's than picks. He threw 22 of each last season while playing for a pretty good team.

Bottom line: Brett Favre is a gunslinger who doesn't draw as quickly as he once did.

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Monday, May 11, 2009

Owens settles for second in tennis

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

Jackie Owens of Lahainaluna gave three-time defending singles champion Kristin Lim her toughest challenge of the prep season, actually becoming the only opponent to take a set from the Punahou standout.

But it wasn't nearly enough as Owens capped her outstanding high school career by having to settle for a second straight runnerup finish in the state girls' tennis championships on Oahu. The final scores: 6-1, 6-7, 6-1.

Owens is a four-time MIL singles champion. Kim won three straight state singles titles in addition to capturing a gold in doubles as a freshman.

Punahou easily repeated as champion in both the boy's and girls' divisions.

It was two games and out for the two MIL teams – Kamehameha and Maui High -- in the state Division-I baseball tournament, but the league's two entries in D-II ended up meeting each other for third place, with Molokai defeating St. Anthony 6-2 on Saturday. Scottie Rapanot led the Farmers with three hits and three RBI.

Punahou captured its sixth straight D-I baseball crown be defeating Kailua 3-2 in the title game, while Maryknoll took top honors in D-II with a 3-2 win over top-seeded and defending champion Kauai High.

In water polo, third-seeded Lahainaluna defeated Hilo 8-1 for fifth place while Kamehameha-Maui lost 5-3 to Mililani in the consolation final.

The top finish by an MIL athlete in judo was turned in by Baldwin's Lori Takafuji. She was fourth in the girls' 220-pound division.

Next on the state prep championship docket are softball, boy's volleyball and boy's golf.

SOFTBALL: After completing an unbeaten run through the MIL, Baldwin was seeded third in the state Division-I girls' tourney that opens tomorrow at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on the University of Hawaii campus.

MIL runnerup Kamehameha-Maui opens its bid against Kapolei at 3 p.m. tomorrow, with the winner facing top-seeded Iolani at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Baldwin draws an opening-round bye before facing the winner of Hilo vs. Mid-Pac at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

In D-II, Molokai was seeded fourth and will play the winner of Kaiser-Konawaena at in a 7 p.m. quarterfinal game at Central Oahu Regional Park on Wednesday. Before then, Hana will meet Aiea tomorrow at 7 o'clock.

VOLLEYBALL: Kamehameha-Maui was seeded fourth in D-I and Seabury Hall third in D-II.

Baldwin faces a huge challenge in its first state appearance in more than a decade versus Kamehmeha-Kapalama in a 5 o'clock match on Wednesday at Radford High. Kamehameha-Maui meets the winner of Mililani vs. Kamehameha-Hawaii on Thursday.

Seabury will tangle with the Waipahu-Le Jardin winner at 5 p.m. Thursday at Kalani High.

GOLF: The state boy's tourney opens a two-day run tomorrow at the Royal Lahaina, with 20 MIL athletes in the 120-player field.

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Friday, May 8, 2009

Trojans, Farmers reach baseball semis

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

The MIL again has a pair of teams in the state Division-II baseball semifinals, with St. Anthony and Molokai each posting decisive victories yesterday at Hans L'Orange Field.

St. Anthony's Jarret Stinger tossed a three-hitter and the Trojans capitalized on Konawaena's four errors for a 6-0 quarterfinal victory, setting up a 7 o'clock date tonight with Maryknoll in the semis.

Maryknoll advanced by defeating third-seeded Waipahu 6-5 in eight innings. The second-seeded Trojans will be looking to reach the title game for a second straight season, having lost a heartbreaker to Kauai High in last year's final.

Kauai is back as the top seed and will against be trying to eliminate Molokai in the semis when the two teams tangle at 4:30. Both teams advanced with lopsided victories. Kauai routed Honokaa 11-0 while the Farmers handled fourth-seeded Hawaii Prep 11-5.

Both of the semifinal games will be carried live on Maui's ESPN 550 as will a pair of earlier consolation games involving MIL teams in the D-I portion of the tournament.

Maui High, which sustained a 3-2, 11-inning loss to Kailua in the opening round, meets Mililani in an 8:30 a.m. game at Les Murakami Stadium.

At 11 a.m., Kamehameha-Maui will try to bounce back from yesterday's 3-1 quarterfinal loss to Kamehameha-Kapalama. The Maui team will face top-seeded Pearl City, which suffered a 3-1 loss to five-time defending champ Punahou in yesterday's semis.

WATER POLO: Third-seeded Lahainaluna suffered an 11-4 loss to Kamehameha-Kapalama in the quarterfinals of the state tournament at Central Oahu Regional Park. The Lunas were relegated to the consolation bracket, where they will meet Kamehameha-Hawaii at 4:30. Kahuku routed Kamehameha-Maui bounced back from a 12-5, first-round loss to Kahuku by posting a 6-5 win over Leilehua and will play in Saturday's seventh-place match.

TENNIS: All of the MIL's tennis hopes are centered on Jackie Owens, who is the only local athlete to advance to today's quarterfinals of the state tournament being held at CORP. Owens is a four-time MIL singles champion who has twice reached the FF and was last year's state runnerup.

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Thursday, May 7, 2009

Molokai advances in state baseball

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

While Molokai cruised into the quarterfinals of the state Division-II baseball tournament yesterday, Maui High suffered a heart-breaking loss in the opening round of the D-I event.

Keaka Kamakana had a pair of doubles and drove in four runs, helping Molokai romp to a 12-2 win over McKinley at Hans L'Orange Field. Scottie Rapanot went 5.1 innings, giving up four hits and striking out seven, as the Farmers earned a date with fourth-seeded Hawaii Prep at 11:30 a.m. today.

Maui High rallied from an early deficit 2-0 and forced the game in extras, but was bounced out of title contention, suffering a 3-2, 11-inning loss to Kailua when Bob Lastimosa scored on Tyson-Wade Lono's sacrifice fly.

The loss dropped the Sabers into the consolation bracket. They are idle until Friday, when they face Mililani at 8:30 a.m. Mililani also was the victim of a 3-2 loss, dropping a close decision against Moanalua.

Both of the MIL champions drew first-round byes and begin play today. In D-I, fourth-seeded Kamehameha-Maui meets Kamehameha-Kapalama at 2 p.m. at Murakamai. The Kapalama crew routed Waiakea 13-0. The game will be carried on ESPN 550.

In D-II, second-seeded St. Anthony faces Konawaena, which beat Kahuku 8-6, in a 2 p.m. game at Hans L'Orange.

Other first-round results: defending D-I champ Punahou blanked Campbell 2-0 while, in D-II, Honokaa edged Radford 7-6 and Maryknoll crushed Makua Lani 11-3.

GOLF: Moanalua's Kristina Merkle defended her state title while Punahou captured its third straight girls' team crown yesterday at the Royal Lahaina Golf Course, but Baldwin made things interesting.

Merkle finished with a two-round total of 145, beating Kauai's Kelli Oride by five strokes and Cassy Isagawa by six. Further aided by Baldwin's Kalea Heu's 159 for a ninth place, Baldwin was second in the team event, five back of Punahou.

WATER POLO: Kahuku routed Kamehameha-Maui 12-5 at Central Oahu Regional Park. The Warriors will play at 2 p.m. today against Leilehua, which lost 6-5 to Kalani.

Third-seeded Lahainaluna, the MIL champ, opens at 5:45 p.m. today against the winner of yesterday's late match between Kamehameha-Oahu and Kapolei.

TENNIS: Nine entries from the MIL won their opening matches yesterday in the state tennis tournament at CORP.

Four-time MIL singles champion Jackie Owens will be seeking to improve on her second-place finish of last year. Owens, seeded second in this year's event, drew a first-round bye and will open her bid today, seeking to become the first MIL player to capture the singles crown since Baldwin's Kari Luna took top honors in 1994.

The top seed belongs to Kristin Lim of Punahou. Her school has won the last six team titles.


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Monday, May 4, 2009

Busy weekend for prep athletes

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

It was a huge weekend of activity on the local high school sports front, with many championships being decided and several state tournament berths being secured.

BASEBALL: Kamehameha-Maui was seeded fourth in the Wally Yonamine Foundation D-I state baseball tournament. Pearl City was No. 1, followed by Iolani and Hilo. The Warriors will open against the winner of KS-Kapalama vs. Waiakea in a 2 p.m. quarterfinal on Thursday at Les Murakami Stadium. MIL runnerup Maui High will open vs. Kailua in an 11:30 game on Wednesday. The winner will face Hilo in Thursday's 11:30 a.m. quarterfinal.

St. Anthony, which finished second last year, will return as the No. 2 seed in the D-II tournament to be held at Hans L'Orange Field in Waipahu. Kauai is the top seed, with Waipahu third and HPA fourth. The Trojans will open against the winner of Konawaena vs. Kahuku at 2 p.m Thursday. MIL runnerup Molokai will open against McKinley at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The winner will meet HPA at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

SOFTBALL: Baldwin completed an unbeaten MIL D-I run by defeating Kamehameha-Maui 7-3 on Saturday to capture the MIL tournament title and clinch the league's overall crown. Both teams qualified for the state tournament, which will be held May 12-15 on Oahu. Molokai romped to a 17-7, six-inning win over host Hana High for the D-II overall championship. Hana forced the playoff game after defeating the Farmers in Friday's league tournament title game.

TRACK: Baldwin again ruled the track, sweeping the boy's and girls' team titles by one-sided margins on Saturday night. The girls won their 10th straight title, outpointing runnerup King Kekaulike 141-77. The boys won their fourth in a row, amassing 193 points to beat out Maui High with 107.

While Baldwin was dominating the team standings, a pair of distance runners from Kekaulike closed out their MIL careers with double victories. Bailey Massenburg won the 800 and 1500, opting to forego the 3000, which may be her best event. Reid Hunter won the 800 and 1500, as well.

Baldwin's Mana Rosa set a meet record in the shot put with a mark of 54-8.5. Rosa, who is bound for Oregon State of a football scholarship, has state-best toss of 55-7. He broke the meet mark of 52-4 set last year by former teammate and eventual state champion Sean Tesoro, who is playing football at UNLV. … Kekaulike's girls' 1600 relay shattered the meet record with a time of 4:10.35, nearly two seconds better than the old mark set by Baldwin two years ago.

Baldwin's John Vegara won the 100, 200 and long jump as well as anchoring the victorious 400 relay team. … Seabury Hall's Kailea Tracy-Visintainer won the 200 and 400. … Baldwin's Kristine Felix posted a rare double by winning the 100 and pole vault.

The biggest shocker came in the boy's pole vault. Baldwin's Devin Sakamoto upset St. Anthony's Billy Pacheco. Both athletes cleared 14 feet, with Sakamoto winning the event based on fewer misses. Baldwin also received wins from Andy Felix in the two hurdles events and Sheldon Leong in the 400. … A pair of Maui High freshmen, Nicola Perez-Garreaud and Rocky Balala finished 1-2 in the 3000.

This year's state meet will be held May 15-16 at Kea'au High on the Big Island. Check out kautech.com for an up-to-date listing of the state's top marks.

VOLLEYBALL: Baldwin gave Kamehameha all it could handle before suffering a five-game loss in the MIL tournament, allowing the Warriors to capture the overall D-I title. Baldwin didn't capitalize on nine match points in the loss to the Warriors. The Bears then bounced back behind Mikey Marrs' 17 kills to secure their first state berth in more than a decade by beating Kekaulike 23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-17 in a playoff for second place. The state tournament will be held May 13-16 on Oahu.

JUDO: Maui High continued its dominance of MIL judo, taking first place in 11 of a combined 19 weight classes. Six Sabers boys and five girls took top honors.

TENNIS: Four-time MIL champ Jackie Owens is seeded second in the girls' state championships that begin Wednesday at Central Oahu Regional Park. Punahou's Kristin Lim is the top seed. Punahou has won the last six titles. In 1993, Baldwin and Lahainaluna shared the team title after Baldwin took top honors in 1992. In 1994, Baldwin's Kari Luna won the individual title. The MIL has a history of success in girls' doubles, taking 11 crowns – but none since 1998, when Baldwin's Lauren Akitake and Jan Ikeda went all the way.

IPA's Matthew Westmoreland is the top seed among the boys. Punahou has won 18 straight team titles since Lahainaluna captured the 1990 crown to end a streak of seven Puhanou titles. That's 25 team victories in 26 years. Previous singles champs from the MIL are Lahainaluna's Ryan Ikeda in 1990 and 1992, and the Lunas Malino Oda, who took back-to-back titles in 1997-98.

In boy's doubles, Maui High's Austin Wines and Jesse Knight are seeded ninth. The last time the MIL won doubles titles was more than a decade ago when Baldwin's Braden Corniel and Craig Nunokawa team up in 1995 and again in 1996.

WATER POLO: The MIL champion Lunas are seeded third and will receive a first-round bye in the state water polo tournament that opens Wednesday at CORP. The Lunas have finished fourth the past two years. MIL runnerup Kamehameha-Maui will meet Kahuku at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Lunas will face the winner of KS-Kapalama vs. Kapolei at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday. Punahou is seeded first, Roosevelt second and Hilo fourth.

GOLF: The girls' state tournament will be held Tuesday and Wednesday at the Royal Kaanapali Golf Course. Thirteen MIL athletes qualified for the 82-player field. Tee times range from 7 a.m. to 10:54 a.m. The last MIL golfer won the individual title was Baldwin's Shayna Miyajima in 1999. An MIL girls' team has never won a title.

The boy's tournament will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday at the same course. The MIL qualified 20 golfers for the 120-player field. Tee times will range from 6:30 a.m. to 10:51 a.m. Since the tournament's inception in 1966, MIL teams have captured five titles, four of them by Maui High but most recently by Baldwin in 2006. The only MIL golfer to capture an individual crown was Maui High's William Coelho in 1988.

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