TRANSITIONS - From Fall Sports to Winter Sports

For those of you who follow my Blog, my apologies for the delay in postings. It's always hard to get up and write these things after a loss, especially a tough loss that ends a season. The Lunas' 19-14 loss to Waipahu in the HHSAA Division II football semifinal game was tough, because the Lunas were in position to win it and advance to the championship game. Unfortunately, they fell short. Again. The finality of the season suddenly being over has left me in quite a state of futlessness.

Same thing happened last season, when the Lunas had a lead over Kaimuki in the final minutes of the 4th quarter, only to see it get tied in the final seconds and go into overtime. The Bulldogs scored first, but the Lunas came back on a great run by Jostin Carbajal for a touchdown. The Lunas went for the 2-point conversion and the win, but confusion and the play clock winding down led to an offsides penalty. The Lunas were forced to go for the extra point, but the kicking game was inconsistent and the attempt went wide, abruptly ending that game and the season. That team last year was deep and talented. A lot of seniors on that team. It was a shock to see their season end like that.

Lahainaluna's 2010 team at the start of the HHSAA playoff game versus the Kaimuki Bulldogs at War Memorial Stadium

Jostin Carbajal muscles his way into the end zone for the touchdown in last year's HHSAA playoff game against Kaimuki.

Dejection as the extra point attempt goes wide and the 2010 Lahainaluna Lunas' season is suddenly  over.

This year's team was very young - I don't recall seeing this many freshmen or sophomore playing key minutes at key positions The fact that they go to the playoffs and beat Konawaena and were a quarter away from making it to the D-II finals says a lot about this team, the coaches, and their potential in the years to come. But alas, it will be "wait till next year."

So the tough loss to Waipahu, combined with the the Thanksgiving holidays and a busy slate of Lahainaluna basketball games this past week, meant that I have not been able to keep my blog updated. I will now try to rectify this situation and post photos from some exciting basketball and soccer games this past week.

GO LUNAS!

Tonight the Lunas will face the Waipahu Marauders in a semifinal game of the HHSAA Division II football playoffs. THe game will be played in the hostile environments of Waipahu High School and begins at 7:00 p.m. No Aloha Stadium or OC-16 coverage like what their overrated Division I counterparts will get. But maybe playing in relative anonymity will be a good thing for the young team from Lahainaluna.

I hope to make it to the game in time. I will be there on business anyway and hopefully the business ends on time or, better yet, early! Those who lived on Oahu know that pau hana traffic in Honolulu on a Friday is just plain NASTY! And getting from town to the west side is even nastier! Wish me luck so that I can bring everyone photos from the game.

Still pretty stoked about getting two of my pictures published in the Maui News yesterday in a story previewing tonight's game against Waipahu. Thank you Maui News for using my pictures and giving me credit. Looked good!

Here is the link to the Maui News article.

The Star Advertiser preview of the game is here.

Good luck and safe travels to all the Lunas and supporters making the trip to Oahu. And for all you Lahainaluna ex-patriates on Oahu - you better show up in red and support Big Red! GO LUNAS!

2011 HHSAA DIVISION II FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: LAHAINALUNA 23, Konawaena 6 - November 12, 2011

Lahainaluna took care of business and came away with a 23-6 win over the visiting Wildcats of Konawaena in the opening round of the 2011 HHSAA Division II football playoffs before a modest crowd at War Memorial Stadium.

You knew it was going to be the Lunas' night when it was Konawaena's turn to sign their alma mater and all the crowd was met with was silence . . . awkward silence . . . and a bewildered team wondering "What's an alma mater?"

Without the band at the stadium, the Lunas showed the visiting Wildcats what school pride, being Hawaiian and being the oldest school west of the Rocky Mountains was all about. The team sang the alma mater a capella. Led by junior captain Tytus Lucas, the team performed a chicken-skin inducing and inspiring rendition of the alma mater. Way way better than the sorry excuse of an alma mater they sang against King Kekaulike at Lahainaluna's home field earlier this season. Well done, boys!

Despite potentially costly distractions (i.e, missing buses, no ride to the game from Lahaina, scrambling for transportation), the team remained focused. Defense was the theme for the night – and the defense became the Lunas best offense. The offense continued to struggle – for every positive gain, there were two or three setbacks – tackled in the backfield, penalties, miscommunication. The Lunas’ in all came up with seven momentum-killing interceptions, four in the first half, against a Konawaena team that was an offensive juggernaut in the BIIF.

 Just before the half, the Wildcats Michael Andrade had one of the most dominating performances by a defensive lineman. The Lunas' O-line failed to make any adjustments to him and he ran into the backfield untouched on three straight plays, stopping the Lunas for spectacular losses each time. Despite that, the Lunas went into the half up 14-6.

Credit to the Lunas' coaching staff for making the necessary adjustments. They made sure the O-line focused on Andrade. They continued to lock down the defensive backfield. And the Lunas, after a great punt by Kenolio-Dusenberry, pinned the Wildcats deep in their own territory. Mark Ventura took advantage, getting to Konawaena's quarterback in the endzone with Feleti Taufa finishing him off to earn the 2-point safety to make the score 16-6.

After Tytus Lucas' incredible shoe string interception, the Lunas worked to run time off the clock. With under a minute left, the Lunas were knocking on Konawaena's door and on 4th down, the Lunas' Jared Rocha scored to make it 23-6.

 Game over! Lunas win! The Lunas travel to Oahu to take on OIA power Waipahu Marauders in the semifinals of the HHSAA Division II Football playoffs.

For Maui News article, click here.

For stats of the game, click here.

For more photos of the game, click here.

MIL Preseason JV Boys Basketball - Lahainaluna 43, Baldwin 57 - November 12, 2011

After a preseason opening game loss to Baldwin at the Maui High Tournament, the Lunas boys JV team had been tearing up and dominating the other opponents in the MIL. The team was looking forward to this match-up, on their home court, to exact some revenge for that loss. Tonight was not the night.

After going up 17-11 in the 1st quarter, the Lunas allowed Baldwin to get back in it. Transition defense was non-existent as Baldwin started to run and cut the lead to 17-16 at the end of the 1st. They played pretty even in the second quarter with the Lunas down 1, 25-26. The team also started standing around, content to just let Josh Chapital handle the ball and make 1 on 5 drives to the hoop.

In the decisive 3rd quarter, the Bears came out in a press. The Lunas could not get on track. With the Bears again pounding the boards for offensive rebounds and point guard Kody Takushi wreaking havoc in the backcourt and in transition, the Bears outscored the Lunas 18-4 to take a 44-29 lead after 3. Baldwin won 57-43.

My Two Cents

The stands at the 4:30pm tip-off were not filled. Either they were at home watching the Manny Pacquiao - Marquez fight on pay-per view or getting ready to watch the Lunas play in the HHSAA football playoffs against Konawaena at the War Memorial.

The Lunas play better when the ball is moving and everyone is involved. The offense that goes through and flows through Josh Chapital got stagnant. Easy to defend. Easy to rebound as everyone else is out-of-position.

Baldwin's Kody Takushi was on fire. He finished with a lot of points, includiing 5 3-pointers.

Immediately after the game, I took off for Wailuku to catch the football game. Unbeknownst to me, the Lunas football team was still at their locker facility on campus around the time i left! Turns out their bus did not arrive and they had to commandeer the boarders' bus! Another post-season bus fiasco for the Lahainaluna football team.


For more photos, click here.