ISLE FILE
Isle team wins youth hoops title
Advertiser Staff
The NJB Hawai'i Warriors won the 10-under division of the National Junior Basketball All-Star National Championship Tournament last weekend in Anaheim, Calif.
It marked the second consecutive year that NJB Hawai'i won the 10-and-under title.
Approximately 165 teams in various age divisions participated in the two-day tournament. The Warriors beat Trabuco of Southern California, 69-51, in the championship game of the upper bracket, which consisted of about 18 teams.
The Warriors, who finished 4-0, were coached by Denis Lee, Larry Tong, Bob Christenson and Rudy Tulonghari. Team members were: Jarrett Arakawa, Henry Cassiday, Micah Christenson, Taylor Crabb, Shaun Dobovan, Jeremy Lee, Sheldon Lee, Elijah Morita-Dudoit, Kevin Mukai, Lowell Tong and Trevyn Tulonghari.
HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER
• Iolani hires coaches: A former professional player in Spain and the first player from Hawai'i to be drafted for outdoor pro soccer yesterday were named to rebuild Iolani School's boys soccer program.
Felipe Vega-Arango will be head coach and Ricardo "Ric" Miller will be associate head coach for program development, Iolani athletic director Judith Hiramoto announced.
Vega-Arango replaces Myles Arakawa, who resigned under pressure in December after a hazing incident surfaced that occurred during the team's Thanksgiving weekend trip to the Big Island. The team was suspended for a week and forfeited two games.
Vega-Arango, who moved to the United States in 1995 after a career-ending ankle injury and to Hawai'i in January, was named Greater Boston League Coach of the Year for 2000 and 2001 for Cambridge (Mass.) Ringe & Latin High School .
He played professional soccer in Spain for eight years, starting when he was 18.
"I think this will be a winning situation for everybody — the players, school and myself," Vega-Arango said. "Iolani was the only place I applied."
Miller, a former Punahou assistant and Mililani youth coach, will assist Vega-Arango with the varsity and will coordinate the varsity, JV and intermediate boys programs in a newly created position. Miller played on state championship teams at Iolani in 1974 and '75 and was taken in the third round of the 1980 North American Soccer League draft after an All-America career at Seattle Pacific University.
YOUTH TENNIS
• Eighth-grader advances: 'Aiea eighth-grader Dennis Lajola reached today's Easter Bowl semifinals with a 2 1/2-hour quarterfinal win yesterday in Palm Springs, Calif.
The Easter Bowl is a U.S. Tennis Association Super National championship. Lajola is the third seed in Boys 14's.
Lajola, who ousted eighth-seeded Dennis Nevelo of Illinois, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, meets top-seeded Donald Young of Chicago today.
Lajola also reached the semifinals in doubles, with partner Steven Forman from California.
