Saint Louis hops
to No. 5

The gaps are closing, and in the case of one young team, it's a matter of leap-frogging some of the top teams in the state.

Saint Louis, a team comprised of just one senior, vaulted four spots to No. 5 in the Star-Bulletin Boys Basketball Top 10 released today. The Crusaders, led by steady-scoring Jack Miller, upset then-third-ranked Kamehameha at Kekuhaupio Gym on Friday.

They got their shot at No. 2 Punahou 24 hours later, but the Buffanblu pulled away for a 68-56 win.

Iolani, with a close win over Punahou and a lopsided victory over Damien, improved to 7-0 in Interscholastic League of Honolulu play. The Raiders (19-2 overall) collected all 14 first-place votes to remain locked at No. 1. The three-time defending state champions have been at the top since the start of this season's poll in early December.

With Kamehameha's loss to Saint Louis, Baldwin moved up from No. 5. The Bears are 6-0 in Maui Interscholastic League play (14-2 overall), including wins over Maui and Molokai last week. Baldwin shares the No. 3 spot with Kahuku.

Kahuku stayed put after wins over Moanalua, Castle and Thompson.

Radford moved up a notch to No. 6 after solid victories over Waipahu and Aiea. The Rams, unbeaten in the Oahu Interscholastic Association West (11-5 overall), showed signs of potential after beating Kamehameha twice in December.

Campbell and Kamehameha share the seventh position. Campbell rallied past spunky Waianae 67-55 on Wednesday, despite losing leading scorer Tristan Bailey to fouls. The Sabers rallied with Bailey out of the game.

Hilo dropped a spot to No. 9 despite posting two more wins in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation. Senior Aukai Wong continued his scoring onslaught, pumping in 43 points at Kealakehe. The feat was impressive in several ways. One, the Vikings drove more than 2 hours to Kona for the game after a regular school day. Two, Wong made eight of his nine 3-point tries.

Longtime coach Larry Manliguis was certainly impressed.

"Since I've been coaching, nobody's done that," said Manliguis, who took over the reins at Hilo when his brother, Albert, retired in the '80s.

Wong has flourished since transferring from Keaau.

"He gets along with all the kids. They play well together. He's just an outstanding person with a good heart."

Wong's scoring ability improved as his shooting range grew.

"They all try to double-team him. He could get his shot off any time, but he doesn't. He gets a lot of assists," Manliguis said.

The 6-foot-2 swingman is also averaging nine rebounds per game.

His performance was one of two 40-plus-point games by Hawaii players last week. Waianae's Xiro Naovalath had 40 against Nanakuli on Friday as the Seariders kept their playoff hopes alive.