Iolani and Pac-Five have already lined up preseason football games against two Southern California schools for a Sept. 6 doubleheader at Aloha Stadium. Iolani, Pac-Five
take on CaliforniaBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comPac-Five plays Beverly Hills High School in the first game, and Iolani takes on Edison High School of Huntington Beach in the nightcap.
Edison advanced to the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section championship game last season and lost to Poly (Long Beach) 42-28.
"We've been leery of playing mainland teams in the past because they were so big and physical, but we're finding out our guys can play with mainland teams," Iolani coach Wendell Look said. "And it's good to expose our kids to mainland football and stuff they're going to see in college, and it's good for us to get the exposure as well."
Former Edison standouts A.J. Martinez and Denny Flanagan were in the islands last weekend on a recruiting trip to Hawaii.
OIA, ILH soccer wrap up: The OIA soccer championships will be decided Saturday with a doubleheader at Pearl City.
The boys match starts at 5:30 p.m., with the girls final to follow at 7:30.
The third- and fifth-place matches are Friday on the windward side. The boys play at Kailua and the girls at Castle.
Two teams on the boys side will be eliminated today in fifth-place bracket games at Kailua. Aiea plays Kailua at 5:15 p.m. and Campbell takes on Radford at 7.
Yesterday's scheduled ILH boys championship match between Iolani and Kamehameha was postponed due to rain. The match was rescheduled for 4 p.m. tomorrow at St. Louis' field.
In the ILH girls race, Punahou entered the week in first place at 7-1 with Iolani a game back at 6-2. Kamehameha is also in the hunt at 5-2-1, but will need help to catch Punahou and Iolani.
Punahou plays Pac-Five, Iolani faces St. Francis and Kamehameha takes on Mid-Pacific in matches today at Kapiolani Park. All three start at 4:15 p.m.
Punahou and Iolani meet in the regular-season finale at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday at Kapiolani Park.
OIA hoops hit stretch run: OIA basketball teams wrap up the regular season this week.
Mililani and Kalaheo lead the Western and Eastern Divisions and will face the teams chasing them.
Mililani (8-0) takes on Central Oahu rival Leilehua (6-2) tonight and closes the season against Waipahu on Friday. Kalaheo (8-0) caps the regular season on Saturday with a game at second-place Kaimuki (7-1).
While Mililani holds the inside position for the OIA West title, the real race will be for second-place and a bye in the first round of the playoffs. Aiea, Leilehua, Pearl City, Radford and Waipahu all entered the week at 6-2.
Things will start clearing up tonight after Mililani plays Leilehua, Aiea plays at Waipahu and Radford travels to Pearl City.
In the East, Kalaheo and Kaimuki lead the way with Castle (6-2), Roosevelt (5-3), Moanalua (4-4) and Kaiser (4-5) rounding out the top six.
Kahuku and Kailua are both 3-5 and still in the hunt for a playoff spot.
The OIA playoffs open Feb. 7. The championship is Feb. 15 at Blaisdell Arena.
In the swim: The OIA Western and Eastern Division swimming championships are Friday and Saturday at the Kalani High pool. The league championship meet is Feb. 8-9 at Kalani.