From today's Tribune-Herald:
By BILL O’REAR
Tribune-Herald sports editor
A 20-team men’s basketball tournament featuring high school alumni from the Big Island and Oahu will be held Saturday through Monday in Hilo.
The event is entitled “The Coach Larry Manliguis Basketball is Life Alumni Tournament.” It includes 16 open division teams and four 35-and-over clubs battling for top honors. Part of the proceeds raised from the event will go to a Larry Manliguis Scholarship, to be established for Hilo High School.
Manliguis coached the Vikings for 23 seasons, winning 11 Big Island Interscholastic Federation league titles and two state crowns. He passed away in December 2007 and left a lasting impression on many of the players he coached.
“This tournament is a way to remember and honor Coach Manliguis,” said tournament co-director Jason Mandaquit. “He was a special coach to many of us and from this tournament, we hope to raise some money to support a scholarship in his name.”
Mandaquit and Bruce Ferreira, the other tournament co-director, played for the soft-spoken Manliguis. Mandaquit’s 2000 Vikings squad claimed the state title, joining the 1991 Hilo team as state champions under Manliguis.
Ferreira played his freshman season under Al Manliguis, Larry’s older brother and the highly regarded Vikings coach for almost three decades, then played his final three varsity years under Larry.
“We’re really excited to help establish the Larry Manliguis Scholarship,” said Ferreira, a point guard like Mandaquit and one of the top players in the state during his prep career. Mandaquit was honored as the state’s Player of the Year after leading the Vikings to the state crown in his senior year.
“We’ve got a lot of outstanding alumni playing in the tournament this weekend,” Ferreira said. “It should be a lot of fun and a lot of these guys can still play at a high level. There’s no admission charge for the games, so we’d like to invite the public to come out and watch.”
The tournament features two Honolulu alumni teams from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu — Iolani and Kamehameha-Kapalama. The rest of the open field includes three teams from Hilo High and one each from Kamehameha-Hawaii, Ka‘u, Keaau, Kealakehe, Kohala, Kona, St. Joseph, Pahoa, Honokaa and Waiakea.
Iolani is led by three former state Players of the Year in Brad and Cord Anderson and Dean Shimamoto, the current Raiders’ varsity boys coach. Adam Wong, a current Iolani assistant, is another talented player and adds to the Iolani firepower.
Hilo Gold, with Mandaquit and ex-Hilo High star Aukai Wong, plus the five seniors off this past season’s BIIF champion Vikings squad, could be a title contender.
Waiakea, with former standouts Myron Yoshizumi and Branden Kawazoe, has a strong team.
Last year, the alumni tournament was held with 12 teams. Iolani, with much of the same cast, claimed the inaugural title by beating Mandaquit’s Hilo squad in the finals at Andrews Gym.
“It should be really competitive this year,” Mandaquit said. “Iolani and Kamehameha-Kapalama will be good, but so will some of the other teams who’ll be looking to pull off some upsets.”
The tournament begins with four-team pool play on Saturday, with games starting at 8 a.m. to the last one starting at 3 p.m. Open games will be played at Hilo Armory, Andrews Gym and Carvalho Park. The 35-and-over teams will battle in pool action at Papaikou Gym, with a late 4 p.m. game finishing off the busy day.
On Sunday, starting at 9 a.m., the top three teams in pool play will advance to the single-elimination tournament with games being played at Andrews Gym and Carvalho Park. The final game starts at 3 p.m. at both sites.
The tournament wraps up Monday at Hilo Armory with the semifinals games at 10 and 11 a.m., the consolation final at noon and the open championship game at 1 p.m.
Saturday’s games/locations:
Open Division
• At Andrews: 8 a.m., Kam-Hawaii vs. 808; 9 a.m., Honokaa vs. Kealakehe; 10 a.m., Kohala vs. Kam-Kapalama; 11 a.m., St. Joseph vs. Honokaa; noon, Hilo Blue vs. Kam-Kapalama; 1 p.m., St. Joseph vs. Kealakehe; 2 p.m., Pahoa vs. Kam-Kapalama; 3 p.m., Ka‘u vs. Iolani.
• At Carvalho Park: 8 a.m., Hilo Blue vs. Pahoa; 9 a.m., Hilo White vs. Kona; 10 a.m., Kam-Hawaii vs. Iolani; 11 a.m., Keaau vs. Kona; noon, Pahoa vs. Kohala; 1 p.m., Kam-Hawaii vs. Ka‘u; 2 p.m., Hilo Blue vs. Kohala; 3 p.m., Keaau vs. Hilo White.
• At Hilo Armory: 8 a.m., Waiakea vs. Keaau; 9 a.m., St. Joseph vs. Hilo Gold; 10 a.m., 808 vs. Ka‘u; 11 a.m., Hilo Gold vs. Kealakehe; noon, 808 vs. Iolani; 1 p.m., Waiakea vs. Hilo White; 2 p.m., Hilo Gold vs. Honokaa; 3 p.m., Waiakea vs. Kona.
35 and over
• At Papaikou Gym: 8 a.m., Hilo II vs. Mixed Alumni; 9 a.m., Hilo I vs. Honokaa; 10 a.m., exhibition game; 11 a.m., Hilo I vs. Mixed Alumni; noon, exhibition game (Hoop Dreams vs. Hilo); 1 p.m., Hilo II vs. Honokaa; 2 p.m., exhibition game; 3 p.m., Mixed Alumni vs. Honokaa; 4 p.m., Hilo I vs. Hilo II.