LIHUE — The Team Central 17 and Under boys basketball team came home from Maui as champions Sunday. Team Central U17 was one of four Kauai boys basketball teams participating in the Joseph M. Santos Jr. Memorial Basketball Tournament at
LIHUE — The Team Central 17 and Under boys basketball team came home from Maui as champions Sunday.
Team Central U17 was one of four Kauai boys basketball teams participating in the Joseph M. Santos Jr. Memorial Basketball Tournament at the Maui War Memorial Gym starting Thursday.
“It was a brutal schedule,” said Ipo Yoshioka, a Team Central coach.
“The championship game was the eighth game in four days played by the boys,” he said.
Team Central fielded a boys 13 and Under team and a 14 and Under team in addition to the 17 and Under squad.
Coached by Roger Domingo, Hanakila joined Team Central on Maui with a team in the 14 and Under division.
During the finals Sunday, Hanakila dropped a four-point heartbreaker to Wailuku, 48-44, in the division championships.
“The boys played hard throughout,” Domingo said. “Wailuku is a tough team to play, and in the end, they prevailed by four points despite the Hanakila boys staying up the entire game.”
Yoshioka said the Team Central 14U ended in the consolation bracket, the 13U players showing off its second-place trophy on return to Lihue Sunday night to waiting parents and friends.
Coach Steven Pascua of the Team Central 13U said they dropped to a tough Kahului Falcons, 22-12 in the finals.
“All the boys played hard,” Pascua said. “It was a good experience for them.”
The journey to the title of the 17U division started on a winning note as Team Central 17U took a 43-26 win over Upcountry Kings-Black on Thursday in the first of two days of pool play.
Friday, Team Central 17U pulled out a 42-39 win over Upcounty Kings “Red” in double overtime before dropping a heartbreaker, 40-39 to West Side Hoops for a 2-1 record in pool play, resulting in the Kauai 17U getting the No. 3 seed for the finals.
Aiea secured the No. 2 seed with the same 2-1 record, the Oahu team besting Upcounty Kings “Red,” 49-26, dropping to eventual No. 1 seed Puuone, 51-44, and besting the Upcountry Kings-Black 39-29.
Saturday, Team Central 17U opened with a 49-23 win over No. 6 seed Upcountry Kings “Red,” advancing to the quarterfinals.
Aiea opened its playoffs by besting No. 5 seed West Side Hoops, 43-18, advancing to the quarterfinals where it faced No. 1 seed Puuone.
In the quarterfinals, Team Central 17U defeated Upcountry Kings “Red,” 36-25, its third win over one of the tournament hosting teams, to advance into the finals.
Aiea upset the No. 1 seeded Puuone 44-42 to advance against Team Central 17U for the division title, Sunday.
Team Central 17U prevailed in the championship, upsetting No. 2 seeded Aiea, 42-35, for the title.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
