3rd Place

This year, Ikaika Basketball participated in the 5^th Annual Hollywood Dodgers Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 14^th and 15^th.  In the 10^th Grade Division (White), 8 players took the honor to represent Ikaika and played against San Fernando Heat, FOR Rockets, and VFW Jumpmen. These players are William Birdsong, Micah Higa, Jay Kauka, Stephen Kina, Jonah Letoto, Case Miyahira, Bryce Wong, and Jordan Yuen.

On August 14 at Chuck Minker Sports Complex, Ikaika played its first game against San Fernando Heat. With a great start in the first half, Ikaika had a 10 – 0 lead in the opening minutes and ended halftime with 21 to 7. As Ikaika's tenacious defense continued, Ikaika held their opponent to 6 points in the second half and won the game with a score of 41 to 13. Birdsong led the team 14 points.

In the second game of the day, Ikaika played against a familiar opponent from 2002 Jets/Jetts Tournament in California – FOR Rockets. After a strong momentum from the first game, Ikaika displayed a terrific shooting clinic inside and outside the 3 point line, and they did not look back. With a 36 to 25 lead at halftime, FOR Rockets had no answer to Ikaika’s fire power, and Ikaika ran away with a 63 – 38 victory. Despite losing Yuen to an ankle injury, Birdsong (17) and Letoto (12) carried the team with 29 points for the game.

In the final day of the tournament, Ikaika (2-0) faced against VFW Jumpmen, who also has a 2-0 record. In this final matchup, Ikaika was one player short because Yuen sprained his ankle from the last game and was not able to suit up. At tipoff, Ikaika had a bad Achille’s heel as the Jumpmen gave Ikaika a run for the money from the start. Ikaika were not ready for the Jumpen’s pressured defense and trailed halftime 26 – 22. Despite the confidence booster at halftime, turnovers and transition to defense continued to crash Ikaika’s hopes, and the deficit was too big for Ikaika to make a comeback. VFW Jumpmen defeated Ikaika Basketball with a 60 – 40 with Birdsong lead the team with 10 points.

Regardless who won the game and thousand of miles away from each other, Ikaika and VFW Jumpmen made new friends and showed true sportsmanship as VFW gave their Championship Shirts to the Ikaika Team, and Ikaika gave their Ikaika Shirts to VFW.

Congratulations to William Birdsong, Micah Higa, Jay Kauka, Stephen Kina, Jonah Letoto, Case Miyahira, Bryce Wong, and Jordan Yuen for their valiant efforts and to all of Hollywood Dodgers Committee and participants for a wonderful tournament.

This year, Ikaika Basketball participated in the Inaugural Maui Summer Classic and faced 3 mainland teams and 1 local team in the JV Division – Southwest Rebels from Arizona, West Coast Academy Warriors from California, Arkansas Wildcats, and Maui Islanders.  Although Ikaika did not finished well in the tournament, everybody knew they could not underestimate Ikaika Basketball.

On July 26, Ikaika Basketball played its first game against Southwest Rebels at War Memorial Gym in Kahului.  Playing terrific defense in the first half, the game was knotted at 29 – 29.  In the 3^rd quarter, Ikaika fell in a tragic slump with an unbelievable double digit deficit and began to lose hope.  As the Rebels gained more personal fouls in the books, Ikaika used it to their advantage and penetrated through their defense.  Eventually, Ikaika saw themselves shooting free throws early in the 4^th quarter.  Going with full court pressure, Ikaika gained many steals and saw the double digit deficit to diminish into a 2- point deficit with less than 2 minutes of the game.  With no family support on this trip, Ikaika felt the momentum swing as many spectators cheer for a great comeback.  Unfortunately, Ikaika could not finish down the stretch with a 75 – 67 loss.  Matt Gochenouer had the high score of 20 points.  Alika Higa and Jonah Letoto chipped in with 19 and 11 points, respectively.

Later that afternoon, Game #2 gave another exciting game for everybody as Ikaika played against a flamboyant team from San Diego, CA – West Coast Academy Warriors.  Since WCA Warriors enjoyed the run and gun style of play, Coach’s tactic was to slow the pace down with a half court game and limit the opponent on the number of touches on the ball.  To everyone’s astonishment, Ikaika’s half court game frustrated the Warriors psychologically and could not get themselves in their game plan.  This gave Ikaika a good feeling and only trailed by 1 point at halftime 33 – 32.  In the second half, Ikaika got careless on their passes and made bad decisions, which gave the Warriors an edge as they converted Ikaika’s mistakes.  Eventually, the Warriors pulled away, and Ikaika saw themselves with a 0-2 from a 61 to 54 lost.  Despite the loss, Matt scored 21 points, and Jay Kauka gave some assistance with 10 points.

On the 2^nd day of the Maui Summer Classic, Ikaika woke up early for a 45- minute drive to Lahaina to play an 8 o’clock game at Lahainaluna High School.  With a 0-2 start from the first day, Ikaika bounced back as they ran up and down the court against Arkansas Wildcats, who had tough games in Day 1.  Ikaika’s quickness and defense gave the Wildcats a rude awakening as Ikaika led halftime with 23 to 16.  As Ikaika tried to put the game away, the Wildcats clawed their way back from a double digit deficit and took its first lead in the game at 45 – 44 with less than a minute to play.  With the last opportunity to regain the lead, Matt gave Ikaika the go-ahead lead with a rebounded layup with 5 seconds left in the game.  As Arkansas got one more opportunity to score, a missed pass in the frontcourt gave Ikaika its first victory in the final day of pool play, and Ikaika ended pool play with a 1 and 2 record.  Matt led the team with 17 points, and Jay Kauka scored 10 points.

After one day break from basketball, Playoffs had started on the fourth day of the Maui Summer Classic.  As it was hard to believe, Ikaika had another early start with an 8 o’clock game at War Memorial Gym against the Maui Islanders.  Although the boys had their Jamba Juice Jolt, Ikaika got a rough start and fell behind to the Maui Islanders in the first half 31 – 21.  With no effort in the first half, Coach knew the second half performance could not get any more worst so the team was instructed to feed Matt in the post and chip the points away one at a time.  Basket after basket, Ikaika regained the lead in the 3^rd quarter and their confidence.  Down the stretch, the morning spells started up again and the lead ran away from Ikaika.  In the end, Ikaika held off the Maui Islanders with a one point victory – 52 to 51.  Matt made 22 points, and Alika chipped in 14 points of his own.

With a long delay from previous games, Ikaika got the opportunity to redeem their previous loss and play against WCA Warriors in the Semifinal game in the Championship Round.  Jumping to a 6- point lead, Ikaika’s bad decisions gave the Warriors the momentum and the lead at halftime with a 23 to 21 lead.  In the third quarter, both teams continued to trade baskets on every possession.  With less than 90 seconds in the 4^th quarter, Ikaika started to see this game slip away while trailing by 4 points – 45 to 41.  As both teams in double bonus, Ikaika quickly fouled their opponent to stop the clock and gave the Warriors the opportunity to shoot free throws.  As Coach quickly gave loud instructions to their players and began clapping to boost the boys’ energy, the spectators began to follow Coach’s strategy and started to disrupt the shooter, and a cheer behind the bench, “C‘mon Ikaika” from an Arkansas fan.  Sure enough, the shooter missed 2 free throws, and Ikaika quickly converted the Warriors missed free throws, scored the basket, and followed with a timeout.  Trailing by 2 points – 45 to 43, Ikaika quickly fouled again, giving the Warriors the opportunity on the free throw line, which eventually scored 1 of 2.    As speed on Ikaika’s side, Ikaika scored another basket and got fouled in the act.  As Ikaika scored the free throw, a timeout was followed, and Ikaika’s hopes were still alive with 1 point deficit of 46 to 45 with less than 10 seconds left.  Ikaika applied full court pressure in the backcourt, and Matt came up with a steal in the backcourt and the opportunity to win the game. With 2 passes in the winding moments, Alika’s shot at the end of the buzzer came out short with 46 to 45 lost and bumped Ikaika into the Consolation Bracket.  Stephen Kina led the team with 11 points, and Jay Kauka scored 10 points.

Three games within 6 hours proved to be a long exhausting day.  Playing two terrific close games in the morning, the third game of the day was the hardest of all.  Following through the brackets, Ikaika played against Arkansas Wildcats, who was also playing their 3^rd game of the day, too.  At tipoff, Ikaika went through a shooting slump and did not get their first basket until the last 3 minutes of the first quarter and trailed by 12 to 8.  Fatigued and drained, Ikaika managed to stay close and replenished with lots of fluids as they trailed 28 to 23 in the first half.  In the second half, Ikaika got back into the game but could not finish easy layups and free throws down the stretch.  Ikaika saw their hopes to slip away and lost to the Wildcats with the final score of 55 – 52.  Jay Kauka, Stephen Kina, and Jonah Letoto combined for 30 points – 10 points each.

Congratulation to Reed Cressman, Matt Gochenouer, Alika Higa, Jay Kauka, Stephen Kina, Jonah Letoto, and Jordan Yuen for a terrific and splendid effort in the Maui Summer Classic.  Although there were heartbreaking losses, many people applauded their will to never give up on a single play.

As the only Oahu team in the 11^th Annual Kauai Tournament in Kalaheo, Ikaika Basketball competed against 3 Kauai teams - Waimea, West Kauai, and Kalaheo.

On Thursday, June 10, Ikaika played its first game against Waimea, and Ikaika was on fire. They jumped up ahead with a 31 to 18 lead and never looked back and closed the game with 56 to 34 win. Ikaika's starting five outscored the Waimea with 41 points - M. Gochenouer (12), W. Birdsong (9), J. Letoto (8), J. Kauka (6) and R. Cummings (6).

On the second day of the tournament, Ikaika played two games within a 3 hour span, which was not an easy task. Ikaika hit the snooze button against West Kauai and trailed by 10 points at halftime with 29 to 19. Going down as far as 20 points in the 3^rd quarter, Ikaika finally felt Jamba's energy boost and rallied with a tremendous comeback in overtime with a 59 to 56 win. Leading scorers for this game were M. Gochenouer 13 points, and J. Letoto and J. Kauka with 10 each.

Taking advantage of the momentum from the overtime victory, Ikaika faced the biggest challenge- Kalaheo (not Kalaheo Mustangs from Kailua). Playing with smart decisions and great intensity, Ikaika was only down 8 at halftime (30 to 22). Although Ikaika gave a valiant effort to put the pieces back together in the 2^nd half, the team did not surge through in the 2^nd game of the day. The team experienced their first defeat of the tournament with a 56 to 48 loss to Kalaheo with high scores credited to M. Gochenouer and J. Letoto (13 points each). Despite the loss, Ikaika Basketball came out 2^nd in the round robin pool.

During the final day of the tournament, Ikaika Basketball again was given a second chance to challenge Kalaheo in the Championship Game. With a hard loss the prior evening, Ikaika could not find the energy in the morning and fell in the first quarter 21 to 4 and 37 to 21 at halftime. With 2 more quarters to go, Ikaika hopes were down, and an easy win was set for Kalaheo.

Losing as much as 22 points at the start of the 3^rd quarter, Coach Clay fired the players up and instructed a full court pressure right away. As Kalaheo did not adjust to the pressure, Ikaika would pick up Kalaheo's turnovers and converted into points, and the 22- point lead was gradually chipped away. Taking the ball to the rack, Kalaheo's main scorer fouled out in the early 4^th quarter, and Ikaika's momentum began to swing in their favor and the team managed to catch up with Kalaheo -- trailing by only 1 point (64-63) with less than 2 minutes of the game. Not being able to take care of the ball at the final moments of the game, Ikaika fell short in the Championship Game by 5 points. R. Cummings and J. Letoto lead the team with 21 and 19 points, respectively.

Congratulations to the Ikaika Basketball Team for a job well done – Will Birdsong, Randy Cummings, Matt Gochenouer, Alika Higa, Jonah Letoto, Jay Kauka, Stephen Kina, and Noel Okuma.