High School Reunion

Since the end of the basketball season was such a bummer for this Lady Vol at heart, I decided to tag along with STAN to watch some high school girls basketball yesterday, even though in every other state basketball season is over and it’s a shame the girls are treated as second-class citizens here in Hawaii. (K, that’s the only rant from me here.)

Anyway, after driving around St. Louis bout five times looking for parking (I can now tell you where all the buildings are on the campus), we made it in with about five minutes to go in the first game of a doubleheader. Division II Iolani was trailing winless University by nearly 10 points. But the Raiders (no, they haven’t been ‘Red’ since *I* was in high school) battled back behind some stellar outside shooting and held a three-point lead with 10 seconds to go. The Junior ‘Bows had the ball for one final possession, and as I dreamed of a game-tying 3-pointer sending the match into overtime, the University guard drove and put up a weak attempt at a layup (or maybe it was a pass). I guess it was high school basketball after all.

The late game, a Division I matchup, featured third in the state Maryknoll taking on No. 5 Iolani I. It was a high school game, but as STAN and I looked around the gym, we felt like we were at a Wahine basketball game. Across the way were the Hiedas, super boosters who I’ve sat next to at Wahine games for the last 10 years. A section to their left sat Jim Bolla with Lorenzo, a fixture in the tunnel after Wahine games. Even Donovan Lewis, who’s blown his whistle at many a Wahine game, was reffing.

One of the main reasons STAN and I went to this game in particular was because two years ago, when we went to states, we thought the Maryknoll star looked like a certain Ka Leo staff writer. Well, as Maryknoll took the court for warmups before the game, we were thrilled to see her still there, still looking like a more tanned, more athletic version of a certain Ka Leo staff writer. (She’s really good btw. The Maryknoll star, not the Ka Leo writer.) After I told STAN one of the Iolani guards reminded me of a former Ka Leo copy editor, we decided to try and come up with Ka Leo counterparts for all the players. “The tall Korean could be that former photographer … 55 gold could be Sala from the backshop …”

Course, we didn’t have to come up with Ka Leo lookalikes for the players, considering there were quite a few actual Ka Leo people at the game. Besides me and STAN in the audience, Stef was covering the game and Jamm shooting. Apparently, while I dodged players to go to the bathroom between games, Jamm told STAN that besides the game, he’d probably just sit in his car until 10 unless there was a fire or something. As I listened to the news this morning, they reported that there had been a fire last night. Swaminess is contagious!

Lori: (referring to two girls walking by) “The one in the hoodie could’ve been Tara five years ago.”
STAN: “When she was 8?”

The real I-feel-old moment of the night: When Gerald said his twin nieces are entering high school next year. High school? I remember them as tiny floor wipers drowning in way-too-huge green shirts!

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the actual game, Iolani won. The Raiders just wore down the larger and slower, uh, Maryknollies. (I just realized I’ve never known their nickname. STAN will tell me.) The ‘knolls had one good quarter and actually held a three-point lead at half, but otherwise it was all (not Red) Raiders.