The NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers will appear at the Hawaii Convention Center for a Fan Fest today as part of the Clippers Hawaii Classic.
Clippers players and coaches will greet fans at some point during the 11 a.m.-5 p.m. window for the event.
“I think it’ll be great. We do it whenever we go out somewhere,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Friday. “Bottom line we’re just trying to spread the game everywhere. Get people to enjoy it.
“It’s more for the kids. Kids come out, you might find a kid who goes to one of these things, (and in) 20 years, 18 years, 15 years nowadays, he’ll be in the NBA. That may be the thing to turn him around. You never know. I think they’re a lot of fun, they’re important.”
Said forward Sam Dekker: “(We’ll) try to see how much Clipper Nation we have out here, but the game of basketball is huge everywhere … here in Hawaii as well. We have a great fan base, they travel well and looking forward to meeting new people, new basketball fans here in Hawaii. Hopefully they can come out to our games this week and really enjoy the games. If they’re not Clippers fans, hopefully they will be after (today).”
The Clippers play the Toronto Raptors in exhibitions at the Stan Sheriff Center at 4 p.m. on Sunday and at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Tickets are available for both games at etickethawaii.com.
Manuel earns quarterfinal spot at Cascais
Kauai’s Malia Manuel secured her second quarterfinal berth this season with a Round 4 win over Bianca Buitendag at the Cascais Women’s Pro on Friday in Cascais, Portugal.
Manuel scored a 11.83 to edge the South African surfer by 1.4 points. It was her best performance since returning from a four-event break due to an injury. Manuel will face fellow local surfer Tatiana Weston-Webb in the quarterfinals. Honolulu’s Carissa Moore also earned a spot in the top eight and will face Sage Erickson.
On the men’s side, Keanu Asing won his heat in Round 4 with a score of 12.47 against Wade Carmichael (12.23) and Mikey Wright (11.40). Ezekiel Lau finished second in his Round 3 heat and will compete in Round 4 today, surf permitting.
Vulcans fall to Biola in four sets
Hawaii Hilo outside hitter Randi Hunter finished with 12 kills in a 25-19, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19 loss to Biola (Calif.) on Friday in Hilo. Hunter hit .083 in the loss, while Basia Sauni led the Vulcans (4-7, 1-4 PacWest) with 24 assists.
Brooke Watts led the Eagles (8-4, 2-2 PacWest) with 13 kills. Biola outdug UHH 73-53 in the PacWest matchup.
>> The Hawaii Pacific women’s volleyball team was swept by Azusa Pacific, 25-13, 25-19, 25-22, on Friday at St. Andrew’s Priory Gym. Cameryn Collie posted nine kills and 11 digs for the Sharks (5-8, 3-2 PacWest), while Kennedy Poligratis picked up a team-high 16 digs.
Julianne Miller led the Cougars with a dozen kills and a .550 hitting percentage. APU improves to 12-1 overall, 5-0 in PacWest play.
>> Chaminade suffered its first conference loss in a 25-21, 20-25, 25-14, 25-11 home match against Point Loma, on Friday at McCabe Gym. A trio of Silverswords finished with eight kills each, while Nina Torio anchored the defense with 15 kills. CU falls to 9-4 overall, 4-1 in the PacWest and remain third in the conference.
Julia Malinas posted a match-high 17 kills and five aces for the Sea Lions (6-7, 3-2 PacWest). Madelynn Fox added 11 kills in the upset.
