Three state tournament berths will be on the line this weekend when the Big Island Interscholastic Federation boys Division I and II basketball playoffs are held at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo. ADVERTISING Three state tournament berths will be on
Three state tournament berths will be on the line this weekend when the Big Island Interscholastic Federation boys Division I and II basketball playoffs are held at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo.
The two-day, single-elimination tournament involves the BIIF’s top four D-I and II finishers during the regular season.
On Friday, the D-II semifinals will be played first, with No. 1 Hawaii Preparatory Academy (11-0) vs. No. 4 Honokaa (2-9) at 3 p.m., followed by No. 2 Kohala (8-3) vs. No. 3 Pahoa (4-7) at 4:30 p.m.
In the D-I finals that evening, it’s No. 1 Konawaena (9-2) vs. No. 4 Hilo (6-5) at 6 p.m., followed by No. 2 Waiakea (9-2) vs. No. 3 Kamehameha (7-4) at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the D-II championship game will be played at 6 p.m., followed by the D-I title game at 7:30 p.m.
In D-II, the playoff champion will earn the league’s lone automatic berth to the eight-team state D-II tournament, scheduled Feb. 20-22 in Honolulu. The BIIF D-II runner-up will host the ILH third-place finisher at 3 p.m. Monday at the BIIF school to determine the eighth and final spot in the state tourney.
Two automatic state D-I tournament berths are up for grabs in the BIIF playoffs. Because Konawaena and Waiakea tied for the regular-season title, neither team was awarded a state berth. Both state D-I spots will be awarded to Friday’s semifinal winners. On Saturday, the BIIF champion will then claim the overall league title and the league’s top seed in the state D-I tourney, slated Feb. 19-22 in Honolulu.
