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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, June 15, 2006

Two DII tourneys added

Advertiser Staff

Division II state tournaments for boys basketball and girls soccer officially have been added to the 2006-07 sports calendar.

The Hawai'i High School Athletic Association's executive board gave the two new tournaments an official stamp of approval yesterday with a unanimous vote from each of the state's five leagues.

The proposal was first approved by an 82-0 vote at last week's Hawai'i Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association general assembly on Maui, but needed to clear yesterday's final hurdle to become official.

A Division II state tournament for boys basketball is not unprecedented. In 1965 and 1966, and from 1970 to 1982, the HHSAA held a "Single-A" basketball state tournament for smaller schools.

But since then, small schools with successful basketball programs like Hawai'i Baptist have had to defeat opponents with much bigger enrollments to earn a state berth.

"It's a good opportunity for our boys to compete," HBA athletic director Deren Oshiro said. "It's also been good for the athletes and teams from smaller schools to be recognized."

But Oshiro cautioned that the Interscholastic League of Honolulu may move small schools up to Division I if they are successful at the lower level.

"That's something we need to discuss and face as a league," Oshiro said.

The DII girls soccer tournament will give more teams a chance to wear a state crown. The past 24 state championships have been won by a total of only seven schools.