Wednesday, March 10, 1999

Pacarro
makes Kalani
basketball fun

Star-Bulletin
Coach of the Year

By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin

Run, gun and have fun. Harry Pacarro's longtime philosophy at Farrington has made the commute to Kalani along with his son, Mark.

The younger Pacarro not only turned the Falcons boys' basketball team into an OIA title contender, but he also turned around the school spirit on campus. For this, as well as for taking Kalani to its first-ever state tournament, the 34-year-old Pacarro was chosen the Star-Bulletin's Coach of the Year.

"Going into the OIA Tournament, I told our kids, 'You have a lot of Kalani graduates hanging their banner on you, so make them proud,' " said Mark Pacarro. "I think they did that. It's not so bad to be a Kalani basketball player now.

"Before we made the playoffs last year, we never had a pep rally for us. But we had a couple this season, one right before the state tournament. It was pretty neat having the whole school feel the pride."

In three seasons, Pacarro has taken Kalani where no Falcon team had gone before. This was the first time Kalani had played for the OIA championship since joining the league in 1970 and the first time the Falcons had advanced to the state tournament.

Kalani finished second to powerhouse Kalaheo in the East Division as well as in the OIA Tournament. The Falcons, led by senior Everett Frye, lit up the Stan Sheriff Center at the state tournament with 27 3-pointers in four games, finishing in sixth place.

It wasn't an easy journey. Pacarro said he had to change both the attitude toward the team and the attitude of the team.

And then there was the academics.

"We had a bunch of good kids, but they had grade problems at first," said Pacarro, the Farrington junior varsity coach from 1984-91. "We just stuck with them and tried to make them realize how much fun it is to play basketball. But to find that out, they had to make their grades.

"This year, I told them we were going to be the smallest team in the league. They stepped up to the challenge. We don't have that many athletic kids, but we play with what we got."

And, in Pacarro's book, you've got to have fun.

"When I first got to Kalani, the kids all asked, 'Coach, who are the designated shooters?' " Pacarro recounted. "I told them it was simple. If you're on the court, you're designated. We're here to light it up, play defense and shoot.

"The style comes from my dad. We're all for a shot clock in high school. It means we'll get more chances to shoot."

This was to be Pacarro's last season at Kalani. The daily commute from Kaneohe for 6:30 a.m. practices was getting old.

"I hate the drive, and I had told the kids this was going to be it," said Pacarro. "But in the locker room (after the last game) we talked about what we had accomplished and what we had learned by getting this far. Then I said I'd be there for the kids coming back. They were crying and there was such joy that I knew it was the right decision."

And a dangerous one. Pacarro's father, Harry, has said "one more season" for 38 years at Farrington.