Though Saint Louis lost in overtime to Iolani last week, don't count the Crusaders out of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu basketball race just yet. Saint Louis looks toward
rematch with IolaniBy Nick Abramo
nabramo@starbulletin.comSaint Louis took the defending state champion Raiders to overtime, but lost by making critical mistakes in the extra period.
"We missed our opportunities to cash in," Saint Louis coach Delbert Tengan said. "Any time you play a team of Iolani's stature, you've got to put 'em away if it's close in the fourth quarter. We had a chance to win it at the end of regulation and we got as good a shot as we possibly could have gotten under the basket with time running out, but we couldn't put it down."
Tengan was disappointed his team didn't make a couple of "chip shots" early in overtime.
"It would have put the pressure on them to answer," he said.
Tengan isn't looking past any of the other ILH foes, but he is looking forward to the Feb. 6 rematch at McCabe gym.
"Hopefully, we'll have a little better grasp of our execution against Iolani's half-court trap," he said. "We turned the ball over too many times and our lack of execution definitely hurt. We've got some tough games between now and then, though."
The next Raiders (6-0) vs. Crusaders (5-1) encounter could go a long way in deciding the ILH title.
Kamehameha and Punahou, both 4-2, have realistic chances of damaging either of the frontrunners' title hopes.
The Raiders jumped from No. 49 to No. 46 in the Fab 50 national rankings this week.
Barit replaces Capello: Waialua has a new head football coach, according to athletic director Sharon Yoshimura.
Lincoln Barit replaces Don Capello, who stepped down after leading the Bulldogs to a 4-4 record this season.
"It was sad to see Don go," Yoshimura said. "And Lincoln has big shoes to fill, but I'm confident he can continue to lead the program to success."
The .500 record might not look like much, but it's a vast improvement over where Waialua was just a few short years ago.
In 1998, the program nearly folded because of a low turnout.
Capello took over in 1999 and restored health to the team.
"The main thing we worked on was getting the kids' attitude on the right avenue," Capello said. "They wanted to play when they wanted and do what they wanted. We cut out the grumbling and built a good foundation.
"Lincoln has history (as the JV coach) here and the kids will rally around him."
Looking to buy some lumber: Castle softball coach Jon Berinobis thinks he may have solved the riddle of hitting Kailua ace Courtney Kessell.
"If we play them again (in the playoffs), we'll go up there and swing 2x4s," Berinobis said after Kessell struck out 12 Knights last week on the way to a 7-0 victory.
Red Raiders clinch title: Coach Mark Brandeburg's Kauai High School boys soccer team won the Kauai Interscholastic Federation soccer championship and qualified for a berth in the state tournament.
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