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Prep Beat

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Wednesday, December 6, 2000

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HERE AND THERE

OIA, ILH battle
under boards at Radford

The hoops preseason continues this week with the James Alegre Invitational Tournament at Radford Gym. Four games are slated for tomorrow and Friday, with opening tip-off both days at 3 p.m. The seventh place game on Saturday is at noon, fifth place at 1:30 p.m., third at 3 p.m. and the championship contest at 4:30 p.m. Kailua, Leilehua, Radford and Kalaheo represent the OIA, Iolani, Punahou and Kamehameha the ILH and Honokaa travels from the Big Island.

GOODWILL HUNTING: The HUB Foundation Goodwill Football Classic on Friday at Aloha Stadium features six players from state-champion Kahuku, including Chris Kemoe'atu, Aaron Francisco and Douglas Hiu. St. Louis' Cal Lee is one of the coaches for the East team. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $5 and children six and under attend free. Since 1989, the HUB Foundation has generated over $428,000 for Hawaii's schools.

the national scene: Senior tailback Tyler Ebell of Ventura (Calif.) set a new national career rushing record in a 34-21 playoff win against Lompoc on Saturday. He rushed for 312 yards and five touchdowns to set a new mark of 4,211 yards -- shattering the old record of 4,087 held by Travis Henry (Frostproof, Fla.) in 1996.

RED RAIDERS CLIMB: With Friday's victory over St. Louis for the state championship, Kahuku's football team climbed from No. 20 to No. 10 in the Pacific Region rankings by HighWired.com. ... The Punahou girls' volleyball team finished No. 18 in the country in the season's final poll.

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Tim Crouse, Special to the Star-Bulletin

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Athletes of the Week

Chris Kemoe'atu

KAHUKU FOOTBALl

Paved the way on the offensive line for rushers to gain 270 yards in the state title game and recovered two fumbles -- one at the 1-yard line led to a touchdown.

Mele French

MILILANI SOCCER

The junior striker scored seven goals for the Trojans in five games of the Maui Invitational Tournament -- more than half of her team's offensive output.

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Honor Roll

Here are some of last week's other outstanding performers in Hawaii high school sports:

BASKETBALL

Preston Jameski, Hilo: Poured in 35 points in the Waiakea Tournament for the defending state champions, hitting 8 3-pointers.
Jomo Young, Waiakea: Hit a buzzer-beater one game and blocked potential game-tying shot at buzzer in another, scored 15 points against Lahainaluna and named tourney MVP.

CROSS COUNTRY

Todd Iacovelli, Punahou: Placed 97th (16:55) in the Foot Locker Boys West Regional at Mt. San Antonio College in California.
Annie Kawasaki, St. Francis: Finished 84th in the West Regional (20:11).

FOOTBALL

Ikaika Curnan and T.J. Moe, St. Louis: Led all tacklers with 11 stops each in the state championship game.
Ross Dickerson, St. Louis: Hauled in a game-high 8 passes for 130 yards.
Pesefea Fiaseu, St. Louis: The senior rushed for 88 yards on 16 carries and scored two touchdowns.
Inoke Funaki, Kahuku: Led the Red Raiders on several long drives, passing for 45 yards and rushing for 71.
Douglas Hiu, Kahuku: Shadowed Fiaseu effectively and made three tackles for losses.
Mulivai Pula, Kahuku: Gained 112 yards on the ground and scored two touchdowns -- the second one late in the fourth quarter turned out to be the game-winner.
Marcus Salanoa, Kahuku: Scored two second-half touchdowns and tallied 87 rushing yards.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

St. Louis' loss to Kahuku Friday in the state title game ended a run of 14 consecutive season-ending wins in the Prep Bowl/state tournament.

From the start of the '86 season until last Friday's loss to Kahuku, the Crusaders racked up a 191-10 record, with 13 Prep Bowl titles and one state crown.

They went 13-0 seven times, including four consecutive seasons, from '86-89. Their 55-game win streak was snapped with a 40-0 loss to Canyon Country (Calif.) in the '90 preseason.

The Crusaders went 27-0 against the OIA (including 4-0 in the state tournament), 4-0 against neighbor island teams and 14-1 against the mainland, Japan and Samoa. . .leaving a mark of 146-9 against ILH foes.

Punahou beat the Crusaders four times, Kamehameha three and Iolani once. St. Louis also forfeited a game to Kamehameha in 1998.

The most losses they suffered in a season was three ('93) -- within a four-week span.

The last ILH team other than Iolani, Kamehameha or Punahou to beat St. Louis? Pac-Five in 1985.

And prior to Kahuku's win, the last OIA team to win against the Crusaders was Leilehua in the '84 Prep Bowl.

FOUR YEARS AGO THIS WEEK

McKinley's Solomon Lealao rushed for two touchdowns as the East beat the West, 35-0, in the Goodwill Football Classic.

Kaiser quarterback Grant Sato passed for 145 yards and a TD, and Kaimuki defensive back Jeremy Dunn intercepted three of eight passes picked off by the East.

To nominate athletes of the week... ...call the Star-Bulletin Sports Department between 7-11 p.m. Sundays at 525-8600; fax it to 525-5497; or e-mail to sports@starbulletin.com.