Maryknoll and Damien ended historic boys basketball championship droughts on Saturday, and nobody could be happier than Tony Sellitto.
Sellitto was on hand at Stan Sheriff Center to witness history. The legendary coach retired from Hawaii Pacific University awhile back, but he got to see former players — Damien head coach Alvin Stephenson and assistant coach Jamar Miller — guide Damien to its first crown in the Division II final of the Snapple/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships.
Then came Maryknoll and Punahou for the D-I title. His former player at Maryknoll and assistant coach at HPU, Kelly Grant, was in position to lead the Spartans to their first state title since 1984, when Sellitto coached Grant during his senior season as a Spartans sharp-shooting guard.
“Our guys (in ’84) were very anxious to learn. That was not my best team, not even close, not as talented as this year’s team,” Sellitto said on Sunday afternoon.
Damien (28-2) overwhelmed OIA champion Farrington 73-50.
“Alvin and his assistant coach (Miller) were my starting guards at HPU. Alvin was way too good, playing for HPU,” Sellitto said of Stephenson, who passed up an offer from UCLA to play for HPU. “It was like, you couldn’t believe it. I’ve got two (former) players coaching. One wins the first game and all Kelly has to do is win his game. When do the stars align like that?”
Stephenson’s eighth season as Damien head coach has been almost surreal.
“Coach Sellitto called me right before the games on Saturday and Friday and he was, ‘I guess you did learn something from me.’ He said he was proud of me. Sent goosebumps up my spine. Hearing him tell me he was proud of me was … he’s such a tough coach, and now he’s saying something positive.”
Maryknoll prevailed over rival Punahou 50-34 for the D-I title, ending a 35-year drought.
“One of the greatest nights of basketball I’ve ever had in my life, even greater than winning the (NAIA) national championship,” Sellitto noted. “The thing is, I was sitting down watching it again this morning. How did you feel winning states or a national championship. I live in Hawaii, where everybody knows you and everyone says hello. You win the national championship, maybe five people are watching the TV and people at school are watching, but not people in Hawaii. Not in Molokai or Kauai. But you win the state championship, it means something to everybody.”
Maryknoll (30-2) proved to be one of the best defensive teams in Hawaii high school history, toppling Punahou in the state final for its first crown since 1984. Comparing the ’84 and ’19 teams, for Grant, is a mind-bending, time-traveling experience.
“There’s some distinct similarities. Marcus Tobin was like Tony Turner. They played similar styles. Tony lived and died on that short baseline jump shot, similar to how Marcus loves that shot. Nikko Robben is similar to Mike Among, a combo point guard with Ben Valle. Nikko was our primary ballhandler, big guys who can see over the defense, good ballhandlers and can take control of a game,” Grant said. “I don’t think there’s too much similarity between Kui (Ostrowski) and Makoto (Kamata). You could compare Kui to Kalai, but Kui was big.”
Dominic Ostrowski was the most outstanding player of the ’84 state tourney. Brother Kui was all-tournament.
“Dominic had a really good tournament, strong around the rim and he could shoot the perimeter shot,” Grant noted.
The X-factor and biggest difference between ’84 and ’19 Maryknoll teams?
“That ’84 team didn’t have Liko Soares. He just neutralizes,” Grant said of his powerful post player. “I always wanted to have someone like Liko. When I was at Kaimuki, I had Desmond Tautofi. He played JV and we brought him up and he played against everyone’s big men. I felt more comfortable later this season with Marcus guarding the perimeter. I watched a lot of game film and this year, guys couldn’t get around him as much. At the start of the season, whenever we had the two of those guys on the floor we went to 2-3 zone defense because of the shooters in the ILH.”
Only four times did an opponent reach the 50-point mark against the Spartans, and even then, only one managed to scrape by with a win over the eventual Division I state champions.
That team? Damien, which won its first Division II state title, as well as its first state championship in any sport.
“It’s a great time to be a Monarch,” said Damien assistant coach Reggie Maldonado, a former Monarchs player and ’87 graduate.
The Monarchs had already beaten 2018 state champion Punahou. They met Maryknoll in week five of the preseason at the Punahou Invitational. Damien’s 55-47 win made it seven wins over ranked teams at that point — Dec. 20 — by the young Monarchs. They went on to edge Kamehameha the next day before losing to host Punahou for the tourney title. Damien did not play another Top 10 team until the D-II state final.
It’s all well and good in preseason, of course. Would Damien, which opted to stay in D-II when the ILH declaration date came in June, have been able to withstand the physical toll of two or three games every week in a stacked ILH D-I gauntlet? That’s a tough question without a definite answer. Perhaps next season, when Damien makes its official move up to D-I. Sellitto can hardly wait.
“(On Saturday), I called Kelly and he said, ‘I’m watching film.’ Who watches film in high school? He is serious,” Sellitto said. “I think Alvin really knows what he’s doing. I watched them play Maryknoll and Damien beat them and I could not believe it. I could not believe it. Their two guards (Jydon Hall, Hayden Bayudan) scored all these points. They’re quick, quick, QUICK. Super good. For high school, very effective. Some of the basic ideas Alvin and I have I’m sure transmitted, but he runs what they’re best at.”
