Year of the ’Dog

Kaimuki's Keone Reyes and Kelly Grant top All-State boys basketball team
By Paul Honda
starbulletin.com



Reaching the pinnacle in any arena of life isn't always about a smooth path.

In fact, there was no easy road for the Kaimuki Bulldogs this year. In preseason, Sports Illustrated named Kaimuki the best team in Hawaii, creating more pressure for a team that hadn't won a state title in 14 years.

Coaches tabbed the Bulldogs, who had reached the state final a season before, preseason favorites in the Oahu Interscholastic Association. If anyone could see Kaimuki as the underdogs, it was only the Bulldogs themselves.

Kelly Grant saw a slippery slope ahead. The coach's 10-man rotation was severely depleted by graduation. Standout Keone Reyes was slow to heal from an infected boil on his leg. Young new starters and reserves had plenty to learn.

However, the consistency of Beau Albrechtson and Daniel Colon, as well as a test of Grant's own ability, as he said in December, to "push the right buttons" when it came to Reyes, that made the voyage much more memorable.

Coaches and media rewarded state champion Kaimuki (26-8) with Star-Bulletin player of the year honors for Reyes and coach of the year honors for Grant.

The top 5 players of the All-State/Fab 15 were Reyes, Miah Ostrowski of Punahou, Albrechtson, Spencer McLachlin of Punahou and Scott Smith of Saint Louis.

Reyes, a 6-foot, 255-pound senior, brought his leadership and tenacity when the 'Dogs needed them most.

"Keone knew how to rise to the occasion when the game came down to winning and losing," Grant said. "His will to win is second to none. If you look at the flip side of it, he hates to lose. When we lose, he really looks like a poor loser, but he just cannot stand losing."

The Bulldogs limped into the playoffs with a 7-5 OIA Red East record. Reyes then went on a tear, with 18 points against Waianae, 20 at Mililani, 18 against Radford and 16 in the league title game against Kalaheo.

The Bulldogs' Keone Reyes was named the Player of the Year on the Star-Bulletin's Fab 15 boys basketball team; Kelly Grant of Kaimuki was the Coach of the Year.

In the state tourney, Reyes was on a roll: 13 points and nine rebounds against Saint Louis; 27 points, six boards and four assists against Kamehameha-Hawaii; 21 points, including 10-for-11 accuracy from the foul line, and seven boards in the championship win over Punahou.

Punahou had been ranked No. 1 in the Star-Bulletin Top 10 for much of the season. "He's very physical, but he has really strong skills for his size," Punahou coach Dan Hale said. "He moves so quick. You forget how big he is until he gets inside, and he's basically unstoppable."

Reyes finished with nine votes in the balloting for player of the year, ahead of the six votes for Ostrowski. Albrechtson had one vote.

Punahou's bid for a state title came up just short, though Ostrowski didn't lack for effort or performance. The senior guard averaged 19 points per game.

"Without a doubt, the most talented kid we had in the state this year," said Moanalua coach Greg Tacon, who coached Ostrowski for three seasons. "He has an ability to change games with his ballhandling or penetration or shooting. I don't think we've seen a kid who can handle the ball like he can in a long time. A terrific player."

Hale and Tacon finished second and third, respectively, in the coach-of-the-year voting, followed by McKinley's Bob Morikuni, Nelson Wong of Kamehameha-Hawaii and Chico Furtado of Kalaheo. Grant received 16 of 18 first-place votes.

"I think Kelly absolutely deserves it," Hale said. "He did a fantastic job of bringing that team together. That team could've gone a bunch of ways. They could've been satisfied with the what they did the year before.

"With him in the lead, they believed in what they were doing, with that physical kind of basketball, and they were tough to try and beat."

Grant credited his staff and players, and especially their sense of showmanship.

"It was a good season, a season to remember," Grant said.