ANALYSIS
Football Classic provides valuable lessons
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
In December 1982, Iolani School basketball coach Glenn Young took his talented team to the Las Vegas Holiday Classic.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
That squad would go on to win the state championship, but not before losing all three games in Las Vegas by more than 20 points.
Maurice Drew, center, and De La Salle got the better of St. Louis, but the Crusaders learned some valuable lessons in the loss.
"We played West Philadelphia and couldn't even get the ball past halfcourt," Young said. "I realized then that Hawai'i basketball was really behind."
The experience inspired Young to start his own tournament, the Iolani Prep Classic, which still features top Mainland programs every year. The benefit to Hawai'i was in the exposure.
"Now the Hawai'i teams are very competitive with the Mainland teams," said Stu Vetter, coach of perennial power Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.). "I don't think Glenn Young and Iolani get enough credit. People need to know how much basketball here has improved because of this tournament."
Saturday's HHSAA/First Hawaiian Bank Football Classic, in which Hawai'i powerhouses Kahuku and St. Louis lost to California counterparts Long Beach Poly and De La Salle, respectively, could have the same effect.
Yes, Kahuku was overmatched by Long Beach Poly's breathtaking speed and lost 42-16. And St. Louis likewise got a wake-up call when undersized De La Salle dominated the line of scrimmage and out-gained the Crusaders in yardage 184-2 in the first quarter of a 31-21 defeat.
But that is the beauty of Saturday's games: school was in session, and the Hawai'i teams learned valuable lessons.
"If our kids can take this experience and identify our mistakes and correct them, that's a big positive," St. Louis coach Delbert Tengan said yesterday. "I think it's a great thing. We gotta challenge our kids to go up against the best, because playing against this kind of competition can only make them better."
Kahuku coach Siuaki Livai agreed, saying there is no substitute for facing the type of speed Long Beach Poly displayed.
"It's something you have to feel it, play it," Livai said. "It's your aiming point. Everything is just different. It was a great experience for us."
It appeared to be a great experience for the visiting teams as well, as both got a tour of Pearl Harbor the day before the game. Long Beach Poly took in some of Friday night's Waikiki Ho'olaulea, and De La Salle had a luau Wednesday night and visited the Shriner's Hospital on Thursday morning.
"Both teams were very impressed with how they were treated by the local people," said Keith Amemiya, executive director of the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association and the Classic's organizer. "One of the goals was to make it memorable so that other Mainland teams will see that and want to come here in the future."
The Classic was intended to be a one-shot deal, but because of its success, Amemiya said it's possible to explore options for another doubleheader.
"We still need to evaluate it, and I would need to talk to the leagues again to get their approval," Amemiya said. "But I think it was a great learning experience for all of us. It brought in fans who never went to a high school game in years, and the exposure was a good thing because Hawai'i fans got to see big-time high school football."
A crowd of 27,811 watched the doubleheader at Aloha Stadium, and thousands more watched it on live TV. That was on a busy evening that also had a televised University of Hawai'i football game, plus live primary election coverage.
The attendance figure is the largest for a high school event here since the 1995 Prep Bowl matching Kahuku vs. St. Louis (29,129).
Amemiya said fan interest in the Classic could contribute to a revival of sorts.
"Hopefully this will help a rekindling of interest in high school football here," Amemiya said.
Not that the sport is suffering. St. Louis entered the game ranked No. 17 in USA Today's Super 25 rankings and No. 10 by Student Sports Inc., a national magazine and Web site. De La Salle, which owns a national-record 127-game win streak, is No. 1 in both rankings and Long Beach Poly is No. 3.
"The Hawai'i teams did very little to discredit themselves," said Mark Tennis, a Student Sports editor who was here covering the Classic. "A lot of teams that get down 14 or 21 points to De La Salle just quit, but St. Louis proved they're a legitimate Top 50 team by giving them a run for their money."
The Crusaders' 10-point loss tied for the fourth-smallest margin of victory in the Spartans' 127-game streak. Tengan said that while he appreciates the respect St. Louis received, he knows the Crusaders can do better.
"I'm not saying we didn't play well, and we easily could have folded," Tengan said. "But I felt disappointed we didn't play better. I don't think we really had to play over and beyond what we're capable of to be in the ball game. We made some mistakes, but that's what playing a team like De La Salle does. It makes you work harder on fundamentals."
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