TO celebrate their head coach’s milestone 200th career victory Saturday, the idea was that the Hawaii Pacific University women’s basketball team would ceremonially douse Reid Takatsuka with the contents of the sports drink cooler.

But with the Sharks men’s team due to take the floor immediately after the women and the locker room closed due to COVID-19 protocols, it was decided that a postponement was in order, for the moment.

Nobody, it seems, not even the players themselves, have been able to cool off Takatsuka or the program he heads entering today’s game with Chaminade.

The Sharks, with Takatsuka’s 201st victory on Sunday over Hawaii Hilo, have won 30 consecutive games over two seasons, are 5-0 (4-0 in the PacWest Conference) and ranked as high as third nationally in Division II. Along the way, Takatsuka’s victory total is second only to that of retired UH-Manoa coach Vince Goo (1987-2004) in women’s college basketball in the state.

Goo, who was 334-116 in 17 seasons, is among the admirers of what the Sharks have accomplished with Takatsuka. Goo does commentary on Spectrum broadcasts and came away highly impressed with the Sharks’ 82-74 victory over the Rainbow Wahine in December. “He coaches that team like hell,” Goo said. “He had only eight kids (at the time) and they’d only been practicing since, maybe, October, so it was a helluva job.”

It is a job that the 55-year-old Hawaii Baptist Academy graduate hardly imagined when he first got his feet wet as a volunteer assistant with the junior varsity team while still a student at Cal Baptist University.

But nine years at HBA, including seven as a head coach, and a two years as an assistant at HPU while juggling outside teaching jobs and a business venture, eventually opened the door for what he has come to call his “dream job.”

Since succeeding his mentor, Jeff Harada, at HPU, Takatsuka averaged 22 victories a season entering this year and has guided the Sharks to four PacWest Tournament titles, four regular-season championships and five NCAA tournament appearances while earning four conference coach of the year awards.

Most of it was accomplished when the Sharks were without a regular place to practice, much less a home floor.

They led a vagabond existence using a series of high school gyms and even a community center or two until The Shark Tank, the former St. Francis gym, became available last year.

The Sharks were 29-1 last March and set to host an NCAA regional when COVID-19 forced a shutdown. But they have barely missed a beat in fast-breaking into the 2020-21 season.

The winning recipe has been one of wide-open, free-flowing play, solid fundamentals and a focus on teamwork. It is an approach that has had particular appeal to players from Australia, where HPU has constructed a pipeline that current contributes five players to the roster. “The style of play he has adapted is similar to the way we play back at home, so we’re very comfortable,” said guard Amy Baum, the PacWest player of the year.

Takatsuka is not above joking with the players about Aussie slang, offering an imitation or two. “He knows when to have fun and when to when to make business business, so that is what I really appreciate about him,” said guard Alysha Marcucci. “With 200 wins he gets the results. He’s very humble about it and likes to give credit to the team rather than himself. But, obviously, he deserves all those wins.”

And, the celebratory sports drink bath that figures to eventually catch up with him.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.