Summer JV League

Just got off the phone with one of the organizers for Le Jardin JV League and it sounds promising. The league is brand new at LJ, which has a beautiful basketball facility on the Windward side, right after the Pali tunnel.

Punahou (ILH champs), ‘Iolani, Leilehua (OIA champs) and Mililani are already in the league. Since Saint Louis closed its JV league (I never even knew they had one), these teams have moved over. A former Saint Louis assistant coach is now the head varsity coach at Le Jardin.

Hopefully, if we get into this league, the schedule won't overlap with the Kalani Varsity League, which plays on Tue/Thur nights. We may have a situation where we play at Le Jardin JV League early on those nights (maybe 5:00 pm), then go to Kalani.

At Kalani, Coach Nathan Davis has generously slotted us as the late game (7:15 pm) every year. I don't want our JV/Intermediate guys to miss the chance to play in Kalani's league.

Parents, please provde me with your feedback on this. I'm assuming Le Jardin will charge $400 to $500 for the entry fee. (Kalani is charging $500.), so I'll ask for everyone to chip in again if we get in.

Note: We will also be playing in CAL and PAA leagues during this period (June to early July). So yes, we will be busy.

WE LOVE THIS GAAAAME!!

Update 4/17, 11:35 am — Coach Kenneth of Le Jardin emailed and said games will begin June 10, games on Wed/Sat. That works better for us.

Update 4/17, 1:45 pm — OK, now it's a little different. Coach Kenneth emailed again and said it's more of a 16U league. That means our older guys (in 10th grade) like Mosi, Radyn, Chase, Tenchi are eligible to play. I'm checking with him to see if our 16-year-olds like Keanu and Michael who are juniors will be eligible to play. I was hoping for more a regular JV or Intermediate league for our younger guys, so I might shop around a little more. 

Then again, most of our intermediate guys have turned 14 this spring (or winter). Our guys who can play 13U in CAL and PAA (June) would be Ryan, Jayden, Jance, Walter...

17U, 15U, 13U rosters - Update 1/14

Need to start figuring out who will be playing in PAA 15U (late February) and 17U (if they have one). Also NJB All-Net 17U (maybe), 15U and 13U (maybe) in April. I do not want to enter 17U teams unless we have real commitment and enough players to be highly competitive. Otherwise, we'll stick with 15U, where most of our best players have been playing together the longest. 

I want to consider 17U because it's good to play the best teams, especially when we have so many varsity and varsity-quality players. PAA allows you to play in more than one age division. NJB does not.

Issues:

> Money. Playing in PAA 17U (if they have one) means paying another $500. Playing in NJB 17U, that's $600. CAL may have 17U, but they don't start that division until their early summer (June) season. I'd have to ask each player/family to pay $25 or $30 for each league and I'll pay the other half.

> Scheduling. I'm pretty sure some of our guys will be playing with their schools' offseason teams in Ikaika League (spring) and that could conflict with our leagues. Ikaika League has a lot of school-based offseason teams.

So let me know which leagues and age groups you are committed to play in. I'm hoping that everybody is down for anything. We have a special group in 14U/15U and watching you guys play together is one of the funnest things in the world.

> Uniforms. If I haven't heard from you or your parent(s) yet, I need to know what size you want for the new uniform AND if you need a bigger size for the teal uniform (re-order). Cost is $30 per uniform if you can afford it and help this old coach out. I'm sending in the order in the next day or two.

Need to start figuring out who will be playing in PAA 15U (late February) and 17U (if they have one). Also NJB All-Net 17U (maybe), 15U and 13U (maybe) in April. I do not want to enter 17U teams unless we have real commitment and enough players to be highly competitive. Otherwise, we'll stick with 15U, where most of our best players have been playing together the longest.

I want to consider 17U because it's good to play the best teams, especially when we have so many varsity and varsity-quality players. PAA allows you to play in more than one age division. NJB does not.

Issues:
> Money. Playing in PAA 17U (if they have one) means paying another $500. Playing in NJB 17U, that's $600. CAL may have 17U, but they don't start that division until their early summer (June) season. I'd have to ask each player/family to pay $25 or $30 for each league and I'll pay the other half.

> Scheduling. I'm pretty sure some of our guys will be playing with their schools' offseason teams in Ikaika League (spring) and that could conflict with our leagues. Ikaika League has a lot of school-based offseason teams.
So let me know which leagues and age groups you are committed to play in. I'm hoping that everybody is down for anything. We have a special group in 14U/15U and watching you guys play together is one of the funnest things in the world.

> Uniforms. If I haven't heard from you or your parent(s) yet, I need to know what size you want for the new uniform AND if you need a bigger size for the teal uniform (re-order). Cost is $30 per uniform if you can afford it and help this old coach out. I'm sending in the order in the next day or two.

If you have borrowed a uniform (or two) in the past, I need those back.

Currently playing: Aiea 13U, PAA 13U leagues. Next: CAL Intermediate.

Tentative rosters (in order of age). If I'm forgetting any names, please let me know.

Late February: PAA 15U
Kali'a Mielke
Mosi Afe
Kyle Moraga
Chase Santos
Gabriel Porras
Jared Elwin
Josh M DE Jesus
Kapaa Nishimura
Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain
Colin Micah Ramos
Javan Montiho
Chris Afe
Micah Visoria
Ryan Higashionna

PAA 17U (need to confirm they'll have a division, not sure - they're saying most likely just a tournament)
15U roster plus Keanu Pratt

Early April: NJB 15U
Kali'a Mielke
Mosi Afe
Kyle Moraga
Chase Santos
Gabriel Porras
Jared Elwin
Josh M DE Jesus
Kapaa Nishimura
Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain
Colin Micah Ramos
Javan Montiho
Chris Afe
Micah Visoria
Ryan Higashionna
Jonah Gormley?
Josh Roberts
Trinity Martin
Jhevin Mercado

NJB 17U - Maybe, maybe not. Players can't play in two age divisions at NJB. Boo.

NJB 13U - I'm 50/50 on this since Micah and Little Josh will turn 14 in the spring. The birthdate cutoff for NJB is Sept. 1, which means Jhevin and Trinity will be too old. We'll have a decent team, the same guys playing in PAA League right now. But we'll see if they're still dedicated and working hard the next few months.
Ryan Higashionna (if he's not playing 15U)
Walter Berthold
Jayden Ramos
Jonah Gormley?
Jance Apuya
Chaz Enos

If we have some high-quality, highly-dedicated additions, maybe we play in NJB 13U.

Then it's CAL 13U, 15U (and maybe 17U) again in early June. Also in early June, Maryknoll JV League (if they invite us back as defending champions) and Kalani Varsity League (we've been in their last three leagues). Then travel team for 14U and/or 15U. We'll see which group is coming to practice and working together.

Early June - CAL 13U - to be determined

CAL 15U

Kali'a Mielke

Mosi Afe

Kyle Moraga

Chase Santos

Gabriel Porras

Jared Elwin

Josh M DE Jesus

Kapaa Nishimura

Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain

Colin Micah Ramos

Javan Montiho

Chris Afe

Micah Visoria

Ryan Higashionna

Early June - Maryknoll JV League (incoming sophomores/freshmen/younger)

Kali'a Mielke

Kyle Moraga*

Chase Santos

Gabriel Porras

Jared Elwin*

Josh M DE Jesus

Kapaa Nishimura*

Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain

Colin Micah Ramos

Javan Montiho

Chris Afe

Micah Visoria

Ryan Higashionna

Walter Berthold

Jayden Ramos

Jonah Gormley
Josh Roberts

Jhevin Mercado

Trinity Martin 

Jance Apuya

Chaz Enos

* May not be eligible since they're already playing Varsity.

Early June - Kalani Varsity League
Keanu Pratt

Kali'a Mielke

Mosi Afe

Kyle Moraga

Chase Santos

Gabriel Porras

Jared Elwin

Josh M DE Jesus

Kapaa Nishimura

Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain

Colin Micah Ramos

Javan Montiho

Chris Afe

Micah Visoria

Ryan Higashionna

* Note: I'll list all our JV players on this Varsity roster in case guys want to come and suit up. You might not play, but you'll get to watch up close and learn a lot.
** Note: All 13U players and those who are turning 14 this winter/spring will be listed on older rosters in case we ever get short on numbers. 

WE LOVE THIS GAAAAME!!

Throwback 2014: Maryknoll JV League

2014 Maryknoll JV League Champions.
Some nights, we didn't have a deep bench, but we still won almost every game with a roster of seventh and eighth graders, along with a couple of high schoolers. One thing we always had was hustle and teamwork. A team of great passers. Got past tough Mid-Pacific 31-24 for the title.

Video: Thunder vs MPI (JV)

Maryknoll Summer League, Junior Varsity Division. championship game. Wednesday, July 2, 2014. Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnaisum.
video: Brandon Higashionna
score: Thunder 31, Owls 24

H1 Thunder 31, Mid-Pacific 24 (JV)

Maryknoll JV League, championship game
Great defensive work from all 15 Thunder tonight. Referees called it tight on fullcourt pressure and allowed all hand-checking (impeding rhythm, speed) in halfcourt, which worked well for MPI and not so well for us in the first half. We led 12-11 at the break, with 7 of MPI's points coming on bonus free throws.

Second half, we dropped the press, played solid halfcourt defense and went on a run. We adjusted to the officiating, stopped fouling so much and built up a decent enough lead. 

We also kept close watch on MPI's long-range shooters most of the second half, which was big. Last time, they rallied late in the game and we pulled out a 31-30 win. This time, much smarter on defense. Chris, Ray and Kali‘a were superb on the defensive glass. For the most part, all of our defenders did a good job boxing out and playing strong in the paint. 

That's all I really wanted: great defense and quick transition on offense and defense. Everything else was secondary to me.

We got the ball inside fairly well, using Chris, Anu, Kyle and Ray on the low post to get good looks and high-percentage shots. We finished out with halfcourt man defense in the final 8 or 10 minutes.
It was doubly tough with Tani on the bench. He got scratched on the nose late in the first half and it never quite stopped bleeding, so he never returned to the game. 

It was never easy. MPI is relentless with their halfcourt man defense. If we had to do this game again, maybe I would've called for Alpha on defense, but with the fouls we racked up early (Anu and Tani had 3 each before halftime), we played our base (hands off) defense and it worked out. 

We didn't play perfect basketball, but we played with 100 percent heart and a lot of smarts. This was a title we truly earned. GREAT WORK, THUNDER! 

9-1 overall with the win over MPI (8-2) and Coach Jeff Won. I'm looking forward to a lot of great battles with them in the next few years. 

MAHALO to Auntie Lehua Nishimura and Kapaa for picking up Anu after his football pass league game. MAHALO to Brandon Higashionna for his stellar work on the video camera again. 

Lineup: Sierra Murobayashi, Jared Elwin, Micah Visoria, Kali'a Mielke, Colin Ramos, Kyle Moraga, Radyn Kaleikini, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Ryan Higashionna, Chase Santos, Chris Afe, Tanielu Mosi Afe, Kapaa Nishimura, Josh M DE Jesus, Keanu Pratt.
CONGRATULATIONS, CHAMPIONS!

Next: Thursday, 7:15 pm - Thunder vs. Damien (Kalani Varsity League).
WE LUBBB THIS GAAAAME!!

Wednesday pickup route

5:00 pm - Josh M DE Jesus, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain
5:15 pm - Chris Afe?
5:45 pm - Tanielu Mosi Afe
6:20 pm - Dropoff at Maryknoll
6:45 pm - Keanu Pratt
7:00 pm - Stretching/warmups
8:00 pm - Thunder vs. Mid-Pacific (Maryknoll JV League title game)
Auntie Lehua Nishimura will pick up Jared Elwin.
Lela Afe-passion
WE LUB THIS GAME!

Video: Thunder vs ‘Iolani (JV)

Maryknoll Summer League, Junior Varsity Division. Saturday, June 28, 2014. Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium.
video: Auntie Lei
score: Thunder 28, Raiders 22

Video: Thunder vs Mid-Pacific (JV)

Maryknoll Summer League, Junior Varsity Division. Wednesday, June 25, 2014. Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium.
video: Brandon Higashionna
score: Thunder 31, Owls 30

H1 Thunder 28, ‘Iolani 22 (JV)

Maryknoll JV League
Our older guys locked down nicely against the Raiders. We had a bit of a height advantage, but the Raiders are always fundamentally sound and quick.

We had a 10-point lead at the half, then ‘Iolani cut into it and got within 3 or 4 before we closed out the win. We used some man defense in the first half effectively. Our first group helped open the lead to about 12 or 14 at one point.

Coach Rudy said the ‘Iolani guy who had some nice drives and jumpers in the second half - his last name is Lee. He's a solid player and brought his team back. Our second group had some nice plays with fullcourt pressure, but the first group stayed in halfcourt defense.

We have some adjustments to make on the fly since we don't have much practice time, but the effort and energy were definitely there in the two games today.

‘Iolani's man defense was strong, but it also gave Ray a chance to finish drives at the basket. The chemistry as a team keeps improving and it's fun to watch, especially when Anu is getting touches out of the post or top for passes.

Chris was solid in both games this morning. We got a lot of nice outlet passes off rebounds by him and Ray. Chase had another strong defensive game and Kapaa arrived from his other JV game to help us in the second half.

Lineup: Ryan Higashionna, Sierra Sisi Murobayashi, Felcris Jay CorpuzAhadain, Josh M DE Jesus, Micah Visoria, Radyn Kaleikini, Keanu Pratt,Kapaa Nishimura, Kanehe Nishimura, Chase Santos, Chris Afe.

Next: Sunday, 11:00 am - Shooting practice (optional), McCully gym. Tuesday, 7:15 pm - Thunder vs. Kamehameha (Kalani Varsity League).
WE LUB THIS GAME!

Saturday morning notes

• Title contention. We are 6-1 in the Maryknoll JV League with one regular-season game left. That means we're tied (I think) with Punahou and Mid-Pacific. It's a triangle of death: we beat MPI, MPI beat Punahou, Punahou beat us (on Friday).

The top two teams will meet in a playoff game for the championship, so a win this morning puts us in that title game. I think. We'll learn more when we arrive at Maryknoll for that 11:00 am game.

• All hands on deck. We have 5 players available for the CAL 13U game at Kilauea gym (against Kahuku) today: Ryan, Micah, Big Josh, Felcris and Little Josh. Everybody else has said "IDK (I don't know)" or is injured or is busy with a school game. This game begins at 9:50 am.

• Options 1-9. The credit union lady told me that the max I can get on a new loan is $5,000. The balance on the loan I took out last year is down below $15,000, which is good. But the limit they're giving me is a total of $20,000, hence the $5,000 difference.

With 5K, plus a couple car washes, we would have (probably) somewhere around $7,000. That's not enough for a mainland trip (short one is $9,000, longer one is $11,000), but it's more than enough for a trip to Kona. The varsity tournament there July 23-25 would run us about $4,000. If we did that and stayed for the WYBT 14U Tournament (until July 28), the bill would be $5,000. Note: WYBT has locked in teams from L.A. and the Bay Area. I kind of like that.

If you're thinking, well, just 4K more and we'd be playing some really good mainland teams in Las Vegas, I'm with you. Mrs. Santos (Chase's mom) has an IDCard fundraiser started. If you haven't picked up a few cards to sell ($20 each, major discounts at local restaurants) yet, let me know and she'll bring them to the next game.

It's looking like we'll do a Car Wash next weekend (Sun July 6) as long as the date is still open at the McCully Union Station. We will not have our full roster of parents and players, but that's OK. We should have at least 15 working parents and players. That would be enough to get the job done.

Here's travel (or not) Options 1-6 and Options 7-9.

• Uniforms being sewn up! Gerard and Gabriel are in the P.I. vacationing, but working to get our new uniforms designed and made. Gerard's friend has a uniform shop and is helping us out big time by making the production a top priority. The style is a little different from what we've had, but the colors are familiar (teal/aqua blue and orange). Mahalo to Gerard for hooking us up and managing the process of sizes, names and numbers.

I'm thinking of jerseys as a possible new fundraiser if Gerard's friend can make more in the future despite the busy schedule.

Punahou 41, H1 Thunder 29 (JV)

Maryknoll JV League
First loss in this league after six or seven wins. Punahou opened with a 2-3 zone, which surprised me. Later they switched to man defense. 

On the whole, we executed inconsistently on offense. Defensively, a lot of reaching and not a lot of lateral movement with our feet. Not a good combination against a good ballhandling team. We were shorthanded, more than we've been all league long, but this came down to execution and we had one too many errors. 

Lineup: Josh Roberts, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Ryan Higashionna, Micah Visoria, Kapaa Nishimura, Kanehe Nishimura, Chase Santos, Radyn Kaleikini, Josh M DE Jesus.

Next:
Saturday, 9:50 am - Thunder vs. Kahuku (CAL 13U), McCully gym.
Saturday, 11:00 am - Thunder vs. ‘Iolani (Maryknoll JV League).
WE LUB THIS GAME!

Video: Thunder vs St Francis (JV)

Maryknoll Summer League, Junior Varsity Division. Saturday, June 21, 2014. Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium.
video: Ray Ramos.
score: Thunder 50, Saints 19.

H1 Thunder 31, Mid-Pacific 30 (JV)

Maryknoll JV League
MPI was coming off a win over Punahou and I knew they'd be tough. Jeff Won, their coach, has been doing this for three decades. He coached age-group hoops while his son (Samson) developed into a standout guard at Maryknoll years ago. I used to play with Jeff in men's leagues during the 1980s. 

He came back to help MPI's new varsity coach (Ryan Hirata) and they play as fast as we do.

We got the upper hand early with great fullcourt pressure and smart halfcourt execution against MPI's 2-3 zone. Tani played through a badly bruised thumb injury (bench collapsed at football practice) Chris got two low-post buckets on nice feeds from the corner and wing. MPI double-teamed him down low for a long time after that. 

We got the lead up to about 10 at one point before the Owls rallied. They tried to trap up at halfcourt and we had some problems because of impatience. But we got through that and had to withstand their rally. 

Ryan hit a key 3-pointer to open the lead to 4 points late in the game. They got within 31-30 on a drive for a three-point play with :07 left. Kapaa missed a 1-and-1, but Anu came up with a steal in the final seconds. 

Tough, ugly victory. We're now 7-0 in league play. (I think.) 

Lineup: Kanehe Nishimura, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Radyn Kaleikini,Josh M DE Jesus, Ryan Higashionna, Tanielu Mosi Afe, Chase Santos,Keanu Pratt, Chris Afe, Kapaa Nishimura.
Injured: Kali'a Mielke (back, hip).
Vacation: Gabriel Porras, Javan Montiho.
Not available: Josh Roberts (Saint Louis intermediate game).

 
Mahalo to Brandon Higashionna for shooting video once again. Thank you for preserving a modest, but eternally fun slice of our history, Brandon. 

Next: Thursday, 7:15 pm - Thunder vs. Roosevelt (Kalani Varsity League).
WE LUB THIS GAME!

Video: Thunder vs Kamehameha (JV)

Maryknoll Summer League, Junior Varsity Division. Friday, June 20, 2014. Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium.
video: Brandon Higashionna
score: Thunder 32, Warriors 27

Video: 8 treys vs St. Francis (JV)

Maryknoll Summer League, Junior Varsity Division. Saturday, June 21, 2014. Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium.
Video: Ray Ramos.

H1 Thunder 50, St. Francis 19 (JV)

Maryknoll JV League
Strong defensive effort all over the court in this high noon game. A lot of the guys got there at game time or a bit later because of the commute from Aiea (intermediate tournament). 

The offensive chemistry is coming along great against zone defenses. I already like what we've done against man defenses. But it's the defensive chemistry that really shines for this team. This is our quickest, most tenacious 15U team as far as defense goes — when most of our Thunder are present. It's also our strongest with big guys like Chris, Ray and Kali‘a. Chris wasn't there today. Neither was Tani. 

But we had enough — 11 strong today — to stay fresh, keep pushing the ball and keep pressing until midway through the second half. Good work.

Kalia sat the second half with a sore back. I held him out as a precaution.

Thunder are now 6-0 in this league.

Lineup: Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Gabriel Porras, Chase Santos, Josh M DE Jesus, Ryan Higashionna, Sierra Murobayashi, Keanu Pratt, Raydyn Kaleikini, Kali'a Mielke, Kapaa Nishimura, Kanehe Nishimura.

Next: Monday, 5:00 pm - Shooting practice (optional), Makiki Park.
WE LUB THIS GAME!

H1 Thunder 32, Kamehameha 27 (JV)

Maryknoll JV League
Tough battle all the way. We led from the start, couldn't shake the tough Warriors. Our guys stepped up and played through fatigue. It's been a busy week of games and eventually, we'll hit that wall somewhat. 

Fortunately, we were 9 strong so everybody got enough rest. We had a 10- or 12-point lead early in the second half and executed fairly well against Kamehameha's halfcourt man defense.

Lineup: Colin Ramos, Felcris Jay Corpuz Ahadain, Josh Roberts, Raydyn Kaleikini, Kali'a Mielke, Chris Afe, Chase Santos, Tanielu Mosi Afe, Ryan Higashionna.

Grinding out wins isn't pretty, but it feels good just the same.

Next: Friday, 8:00 pm - Thunder vs. Ali‘i (Aiea Intermediate Tournament), Aiea District Park gym.
WE LUB THIS GAME!

Video: Thunder vs Maryknoll (JV)

Maryknoll Summer League, Junior Varsity Division. Wednesday, June 18, 2014. Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium.
video: Eric Murobayashi
score: Thunder 36, Spartans 30

H1 Thunder 36, Maryknoll Spartans 30 (JV)

Maryknoll JV League
Raydyn's dad, Rod, had engine trouble on his way to pick up Gabriel, so I was concerned we might not have a lot of Thunder for this game. We ended up with plenty: 13. 

Our shooting was off in this one, especially from 3-point range. I'm pretty sure we still haven't really adjusted to the Spalding TF-1000 (moisture management) ball. Part of that is because we really haven't had practice time in the past few weeks. The other is that the other leagues have been using Baden balls (CAL, Kalani).

The good thing is that with all the misses from deep, we're forced to get the ball inside and be precise with interior passing. We made just enough of those plays to get by a very scrappy team. (This is Maryknoll's second JV team. The first, stronger team plays in the Kalani Varsity League.) We're 4-0 in this league. Smile! 

Kyle got hurt early in the game when a Maryknoll player stepped under him on a jumper, causing Kyle to sprain his right ankle. He had just injured the left ankle two days earlier. He sat the rest of the game. Praying for a fast recovery, Kyle! 

Next: Friday, 4:00 pm - Thunder vs. Kamehameha (Maryknoll JV League).
WE LUB THIS GAME!

Combined schedule update (June 17-22)

Here's the combined schedule for the rest of this week. It's a run of 14 games in seven days (counting Monday). Going back to last week, that's 18 games in 12 days. Drink lots of water.

Please note: Saturday's first game is now at 10:40 am (Aiea Intermediate Tournament). The change allows our Intermediate guys (8th grade and lower) to play in the 12:00 pm game at Maryknoll JV League.

Tuesday, June 17, 7:15 pm - Thunder vs. Kalani (Kalani Varsity League)

Wednesday, June 18, 4:00 pm - Thunder vs. Maryknoll (Maryknoll JV League)

Wednesday, June 18, 5:30 pm - Thunder vs. Lanakila (CAL 13U), Kilauea gym

Wednesday, June 18, 6:20 pm - Thunder vs. Lanakila (CAL 15U), Kilauea gym

Thursday, June 19, 7:15 pm - Thunder vs. HBA (Kalani Varsity League)

Friday, June 20, 4:00 pm - Thunder vs. Kamehameha (Maryknoll JV League)

Friday, June 20, 8:00 pm - Thunder vs Ali‘i (pool play, Aiea Intermediate Tournament)

** Saturday, June 21, 10:40 am - Thunder vs Lanakila (pool play, Aiea Intermediate Tournament)

Saturday, June 21, 12:00 pm - Thunder vs. St. Francis (Maryknoll JV League)

Saturday, June 21, 2:50 pm - Thunder vs. Sharks Green (pool play, Aiea Intermediate Tournament)

Sunday, June 22, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm - teams TBA (playoffs, Aiea Intermediate Tournament)