(Update: Adds quotes from ‘Iolani boys basketball coach Ryan Hirata, 1:05 p.m.)
This heartbreaker didn't come on a buzzer-beating shot.
The ‘Iolani Classic announced today that the 2021 boys and girls tournaments has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement was made on social media.
The announcement:
"The ‘Iolani Prep Basketball Classic, which annually features some of the premier boys and girls basketball programs in the nation, will not be held this December. The decision was made with the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches and fans as our foremost concern, amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 situation. ‘Iolani School is actively preparing for the resumption of the boys and girls tournaments in 2021."
Boys coach Ryan Hirata knows the tradition well as an alum. The process has involved Co-Athletic Director Eddie Murayama.
"We reached out to all of our local teams. Eddie Murayama reached out to them and all the mainland teams. We want to be as up front and collaborative as possible as early as possible. The mainland teams have to fundraise and there's just not enough time to do that if we made a call later," Hirata said. "For (girls) Coach Dean Young and I, notifying our players, the seniors to be, that they won't get an opportunity to play in a tournament like this, that's hard. But they have to be safe and healthy, and we're just hoping for a season."
Hirata and his peers statewide have already missed out on valuable time this summer.
"Of course, it's tough. Summer time is the best time to incorporate your culture, see your kids. The records don't count and you just develop your players and system, but every single coach understands the reality of the situation. You've just got to be flexible and do the best that you can," he said.
Hirata is optimistic about the high school regular season.
"In discussion with the committee and ‘Iolani School and Nike, an event of the magnitude of this, you want to be as organized and efficient as possible, especially because we have mainland teams coming in every year. The biggest concern was the health and safety of all the teams, coaches, the athletic trainers, game operations, the fans and families. You try to pack all these people into a gym like ours, that's part of the draw and atmosphere. The reputation of the tournament is very high. It was a tough decision to make, but it's the right thing," he said.
The worst-case scenario is no season, but there's a good chance games will be played during the usual winter season. With or without fans in the bleachers.
"All the coaches across the state for every single sport is looking for some glimmer of hope," said Hirata, who returned from Mid-Pacific to coach the Raiders last year. "All of the associated parties, the HHSAA, the leagues, the representatives of every school are trying to get back to play in the safest way possible," said Hirata, a former All-State guard at ‘Iolani. "This is for the sanity of the kids, doing something social and something they love to do. This is part of the entire high school experience. For a lot of the schools, over 60, 70 percent (of students) participate in athletics. We always tell them to cherish your time in athletics, and this is one of those situations where it's an actual occurrence. I think there is a high possibility we will have a basketball season."
The tourney began in 1983 and has never missed a season, growing into one of the most prestigious high school basketball events in the country.
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