LIHUE — Kauai Interscholastic Federation boys’ basketball coordinator Keli‘i Morgado has a vision for the second Garden Island Invitational Tournament that tips off today at 5 p.m.
“Our ultimate goal is to attract Division II state finalists from the previous year,” Morgado said.
That goal is still a work in progress, he said.
All three Kauai public high school gyms will host the second tournament.
Kauai High School basketball coach Ipo Yoshioka organized this tournament to help get the schools of Kauai more court time.
Yoshioka, in conjunction with Waimea High School Dino Pabre, were two of the main organizers of the tournament that started its planning three years ago.
“Hosting a tournament as this saves us a lot of money,” Yoshioka said. “Having a tournament like this allows us to have games here, and also gives us the chance to play other off-island teams.”
With youth basketball expanding, Yoshioka admits basketball becomes more competitive.
“Having this tournament, allows our team to be more competitive against the off-island competition that plays 20-game seasons,” Yoshioka said.
Tipping-off the season
The tournament, which includes varsity and junior varsity hosted by Kauai, Waimea, and Kapaa, will be held today at 5 p.m. at the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea and feature the host Menehune Junior Varsity hosting Aiea High School from Oahu.
That contest will be followed by a 6:15 p.m. tip-off featuring the McKinley Tigers of the Oahu Interscholastic Association tangling with the Molokai Farmers of the Maui Interscholastic League.
Host Waimea will take on the Aiea varsity in the contest that tips off at 7:30 p.m.
Over at the Kauai High School gym, the Hawaii Baptist Academy tips off against Island School in the 5 p.m. opening contest followed by the host Red Raiders taking on Kea‘au of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation in the 6:15 p.m. tip-off.
The final contest at the Kauai High School gym will feature Parker High School going up against Island School at 7:30 p.m.
The Kapaa JV will open against the Kaiser High School JV in the 5 p.m. opening game at the Bernice Hundley Gym located on the Kapaa High School campus. The JV teams of Island School will take on the Kaiser JV in the 6:15 p.m. contest with the varsity host Warriors tangling with the varsity Cougars in the 7:30 p.m. showdown.
The action continues Friday with three games scheduled at each of the high school gyms starting at 5 p.m., the same scheduling as the Thursday opener.
The tournament wraps up, Saturday with five games on tap at each of the gyms starting at 9 a.m. The final match is scheduled to tip-off beginning at 2 p.m.
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Garden Island reporter Dennis Fujimoto contributed to this story.
