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Prep Beat
Principals representing Hawaii's five high school athletic leagues voted down a proposal to increase state basketball tournaments from 12 to 16 teams for next school year. No sweet 16
The ILH was the only league to support the proposal, which came out of last week's Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association meetings on Maui.
It was originally thought the proposal wouldn't make it through last week's HIADA meetings, but the athletic directors, voting as individuals, narrowly approved it.
But the proposal still needed to be approved by the Hawaii High School Athletic Association's executive board yesterday. The five principal-representatives votes were multiplied by the number of schools in their leagues.
"It's a surprise that most the state was so strong against it," Oahu Interscholastic Association Executive Secretary Dwight Toyama said.
The OIA was solidly against the proposal from the start, citing travel costs and lowering the level of state tournament play.
"Everything else was approved," said Thomas Yoshida, information director for the HHSAA.
That includes a proposal for a new cheerleading state tournament. But it is contingent on three leagues being able to participate. The ILH and the OIA voted for the tournament, with the Maui Interscholastic League voting against it and the Big Island Interscholastic Federation and Kauai Interscholastic Federation abstaining.
"Maui wants to conduct league tournaments and no state tournament (for cheerleading at this point). The other two are in the process of looking into it," Yoshida said.
Four schools were officially added to the HHSAA, bringing its total members to 78: Kapolei High (OIA), Hanalani School (ILH), Word of Life Academy (ILH) and Victory Christian Academy (MIL).
OIA VOTES STATUS QUO: Earlier this week, OIA athletic directors looked at changing the current league playoff format, but decided to stay with a format that does not give regular-season division champions automatic berths in state tournaments.
"We had about six different proposals, everything including modified double-elimination tournaments," Toyama said. "The athletic directors evaluated each one and the vote was to remain status quo."
EIGHT HONORED: Campbell coach Loke Huddy, Kaimuki coach Clifford Jinbo, Star-Bulletin columnist Bill Kwon, Kailua principal Mary Murakami, statistician and announcer Dave Oishi, McKinley athletic director Neal Takamori, Nissan's Eric Miyasaki and KSSK's Sweetie Pacarro were honored with service awards last night at the OIA Awards Banquet.
WOLFE SIGNS WAHINEKAPU: Kalaheo's Sharon Wahinekapu will accept a basketball scholarship to play at Portland State, her coach, Chico Furtado said yesterday.
Wahinekapu, a 5-foot-8 guard, helped the Mustangs to the OIA championship and the finals of the state tournament championship this spring. She averaged 10 points a game and was named to the second team of the Star-Bulletin's All-State Team last week.
At Portland State, Wahinekapu will play for head coach George Wolfe, a Kalani graduate who was an assistant coach at the University of Hawaii from 1987 to 1999.