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.