‘Iolani’s hiring of Ryan Hirata as its boys basketball coach on Friday filled one high school position, but there are still many more.
At Saint Louis, among the favorites for its vacant position is Steve Hathaway, the longtime coach at Roosevelt. Both of his sons attend Saint Louis.
The lure of the ILH is real. Other possible candidates are Brandyn Akana of Kahuku and Walter Marciel of Kailua. Both coaches had senior-heavy rosters this season.
Akana led Kahuku to a D-I state championship in 2017 and might be a good fit at Saint Louis. Akana also has a longtime friendship with Kekoa Ng, the assistant coach at St. Francis and father of Kordel Ng.
The younger Ng, a Star-Advertiser All-State Fab 15 selection as a junior, has not chosen a new school for his senior year. All St. Francis student-athletes will be permitted to resume eligibility at any program next season.
Marciel was a longtime assistant at Kalaheo under the late Pete Smith. Then he led Academy of the Pacific to new heights until the school closed its doors. Kailua has been a consistent Top 10 team statewide since he arrived in 2012.
The position at Castle remains vacant since Neil Bowers stepped down. Word is that Castle girls basketball coach Joseph Lilio is among the candidates. The Lady Knights qualified for the Division II state tournament for a second year in a row and reached the quarterfinal round again.
Circle back to Mid-Pacific, and the possibilities are intriguing. If longtime assistant coach Robert Shklov applies, the Owls can have continuity and build on what Hirata began. It’s very possible that longtime coaches with proven track records like Greg Tacon will apply there.
Among other potential candidates is St. Francis coach Ron Durant, whose school will close shop when the senior class graduates in a couple of months.
Kadooka no longer Maryknoll baseball coach
Less than three years into his stint at Maryknoll, Eric Kadooka stepped down as head baseball coach last week.
The school promoted assistant coach Alaka‘i Aglipay, a former player for Kadooka at Punahou, to interim head coach. Aglipay was an All-State selection by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin (utility) his senior year in 2010.
“We appreciate Coach Aglipay’s willingness to take on this leadership role and wish Coach Kadooka the best moving forward,” athletic director Ben Valle said.
Maryknoll was 4-9 in ILH play with two games remaining when Kadooka stepped down.
Prior to Maryknoll, Kadooka led Punahou to seven consecutive state titles from 2004 to 2010. He also assisted at Kailua before going to Maryknoll, which won Division II state crowns in ’09, ’13, ’14 and ’15 before moving up to D-I.
Campbell football to host O’Connor in rematch
Campbell will host a Phoenix team this fall in the finale of a home-and-home series.
Last season, the Sabers went to Arizona, where they beat Sandra Day O’Connor High 37-20.
O’Connor will make the trip to Hawaii to play at Campbell on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m.
“We will host them for dinner and stuff,” Campbell coach Darren Johnson said. “They took real good care of us last year and we’re going to make it a special trip for them, too. We want them to go home saying Hawaii is a great place to go.”
O’Connor went 4-6 in 2018.
It ended the season on a high note, beating Mountain Ridge of Glendale, Ariz., 54-8, in a rivalry game.
