LAHAINALUNA INVITATIONAL: LAHAINALUNA 45, Cowichan (B.C.) 28 - December 19, 2011

First day of the Lahainaluna Invitational basketball tournament. Got there in time to see Hilo knock off Baldwin in a close game. Hilo’s not that tall but they have all local players, quick, with handles and can shoot.

Nice surprise. One of the players, Jalen Carvalho, is the son of David Carvalho (Lahainaluna c/o ’86). As a senior at Lahainaluna, he led the boys volleyball and basketball teams to MIL titles. His older son Jayce was a basketball and baseball standout at Kamehameha Schools Hawaii and is currently a freshman on the HPU baseball team. Good to see David doing well.

Tonight’s shooting was different. Dan Williams asked if I could upload pictures of the game at halftime, to be e-mailed to Wayne Seaman, the media/PR guy for the tournament, who would then send it to Cowichan’s home newspaper. So instead of taking my customary spot under the Lunas’ basket, I spent the first half on the Cowichan end and shooting primarily Cowichan players! It felt strange, since I don’t know any of the Cowichan players. I did get some nice shots and at halftime, helped Dan upload and e-mail them to Wayne.

These are the three shots that I e-mailed:

The game was close in the first half with Cowichan leading after one quarter and then Lahainaluna taking a slight lead at the half. I felt kind of embarrassed for the refereeing again, which totally favored the home team. A lot of times the Cowichan players were left with bewildered looks on their faces, palms turned upward after a call.

The Lunas came out in the second half, turning on the defensive pressure and eventually pulling away for the win.

Next up is Hilo. This should be a good test to see how the boys measure up.

For the Maui News coverage of the tournament, click here.

For more photos click here.

For the Canadian news articles, click here and here.