Boys basketball top 10: Maryknoll unanimous No. 1
Jan. 10—Simultaneous, unanimous No. 1 in both boys and girls basketball doesn't happen often.
Simultaneous, unanimous No. 1 in both boys and girls basketball doesn't happen often.
Maryknoll made it happen. The Spartans boys collected all 15 first-place votes to remain at No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Boys Basketball Top 10 this week. The Spartans girls became a unanimous No. 1 for the first time this season.
The boys did it with wins over Punahou (46-39 ), Kamehameha (49-34 ) and 'Iolani (46-43 ), all on the road. Coach Kelly Grant's methodology, approaching every possession of every game—regular season, preseason, summer league—as if it was the last chance in a state-championship game has fortified Maryknoll.
Grant was a sharpshooting guard in the 1980s at Maryknoll, then HPU. Maryknoll's penchant for getting elite on-ball defense from its scorers—guards Zion Milare and Hunter Muramoto have shown potential All-Defensive Team chops—is not common.
The rest of the Top 5 did some shuffling, with Punahou slipping to No. 5 and 'Iolani moving up to No. 2. The Buffanblu began ILH play 0-2 before closing the week with a lopsided win over Mid-Pacific.
Kamehameha also started 0-2 in league play following a season-ending injury to guard Chaseston Ponteras. The Warriors gave Saint Louis its first loss, 51-43, on Saturday to avoid a winless week.
No. 4 Mililani and No. 9 Campbell are on course for a key OIA West matchup. If the Trojans (12-3, 6-0 ) get past Nanakuli, and the Sabers (15-4, 4-0 ) beat Waianae and Kapolei, Friday's showdown may pack the gym in Mililani.
