Hawaii Basketball

With the shift in the girls basketball season, Hawaii fans will have the opportunity to see the island’s best and brightest compete against top level teams from around the country when the nationally renowned Iolani Prep Classic adds a girls division to its highly successful boys tournament in December of this year.

Announced today, the 2007 Iolani Prep Classic will feature an 8-team girls division which will run a few days prior to the boys tournament from December 13-15. While the final field has yet to be set, tournament coordinator Glenn Young has already received commitments from three California schools, two of which are considered among the top teams in the state.

Here’s a quick rundown of the California teams:

Narbonne Gauchos (Harbor City, CA) - Narbonne finished their 2007 season with a record of 26-3, going undefeated in league play (12-0) and winning the Marine League Championship, but were banned from the playoffs as punishment for using an ineligible player during the ‘06 season.

The Gauchos are among California’s top teams year after year and have even contended nationally earning the top spot in USA Today’s Super 25 rankings for two consecutive years in 2000 and 2001. Next season, Narbonne will return 5-8 guard Reiko Thomas and 6-1 forward Gabrielle Clark who recently was named the MVP of the Watts Summer Games after leading the Gauchos to an upset of Division I state champion Long Beach Poly.

Redondo Union Sea Hawks (Redondo Beach, CA) - In 2007, Redondo Union compiled an impressive record of 21-9 (9-1 in conference), but had their post season cut short when they were upset 57-56 by San Clemente in the CIF-SS Division I-A semifinals. The Sea Hawks were led by 6-0 forward Atonye Nyingifa, a quick and athletic post player who averaged 16.8 points, 11 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game and was named to the 2007 LA Times All-Star Team. Nyingifa is expected to be one of California’s top recruits when she returns next year for her senior season.

Granada Matadors (Livermore, CA) - Despite having their head coach unexpectedly step down just a few days before the start of the season, Granada and new head coach Corrie Mizusawa managed to put together a respectable 14-14 record and advance to the second round of the NCS playoffs. Mizusawa, who’s family is from Hawaii, was raised in California and played for two years at St. Mary’s before transferring to the University of Oregon where she led the Pac-10 in assists for two consecutive seasons.