Once basketball is in your blood, the ball never stops bouncing for someone like Kia’i Apele.
If there was a league to play in, he was there, enjoying himself and expanding his game.
Then his senior year at Waiakea rolled around during a season filled with BIIF parity.
Apele was a consistent presence and repeated as the BIIF Division I player of the year, in a vote by the league’s coaches.
“Being the POY shows that all the hard work I put in during the offseason pays off,” he said. “Even though we didn’t win the BIIF championship, we did win the regular season and made states.”
He edged Kamehameha senior guard Izayah Chartrand-Penera in a close vote that mirrored the BIIF season.
Others on the first team are Waiakea senior Keegan Scanlan, Kamehameha junior Kaupena Yasso, Hilo senior Kaukahi Alameda and sophomore Rayson Padilla, and Konawaena senior Aldrin Gadot.
No one knew what to expect during the BIIF postseason or after when it came time for the awards.
Kamehameha’s Mea Wong was named the BIIF coach of the year after leading the Warriors to their first title since 2018.
Apele scored 15 points in Waiakea’s 66-50 loss to Konawaena in the BIIF semifinals.
Gadot was a playmaker for the Wildcats with eight points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
Chartrand-Penera was brilliant in Kamehameha’s 75-60 win over Hilo in the BIIF semifinals. He scored 25 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished four assists. Yasso was a durable partner with 20 points and nine rebounds.
Alameda went down shooting in his last game with 23 points while Padilla added 10 points.
In the BIIF championship, Chartrand-Penera and the Warriors relied on their depth to dispatch the Wildcats 56-46. He scored 17 points, Yasso and Darius Olloway, an honorable mention, got 12 points each.
“What happened this season was not a surprise to me because all of the teams were very talented,” Apele said. “Kamehameha was the best team in the BIIF because they had size and depth and players who know how to win and do the little things to help their team.”
After his junior season, Apele played in six summer tournaments with Hoop Dreams, two in Hawaii and four in Las Vegas. He also played in three other Vegas tournaments with Hawaii Select and coach Alika Smith.
If that’s not enough hoops to dream about bouncing basketballs in your sleep, Apele also attended the Hawaii Isle Hoops College Prep Camp with coach Andy Smith, Matt Conboy’s Skills camp, and the DJ Sackman Camp.
It helps that he’s been pushed and supported by his father Randy Apele, the coach of Hoop Dreams.
“My dad was very helpful to me. He gave me all the tools to become the player I am today and always had faith in me to scholarship and play college basketball,” Apele said.
His best skill wasn’t slashing to the hoop or dishing to a teammate. It was more significant and subtle. It was the savvy leadership that pointed the Warrior in the right direction.
“What I hoped to bring to the team was leadership and bringing my team together to be the best we could be,” he said.
He’ll continue that journey at UH-Hilo, under a new coach after GE Coleman’s contract wasn’t renewed.
Apele and fellow freshman recruit Telryn Villa, from West Virginia, could be part of a promising nucleus for the Vulcans, who finished 12-14 last season.
There’s also the possibility of the Villa brothers playing together. Hawaii redshirt freshman Jessiya Villa entered the NCAA’s transfer portal.
“The goal for me at UHH is to come in and give 100 percent every day and bring a positive mindset and to be a great leader,” Apele said. “I will miss coach GE. He and coach Aukai Wong believed in me. I just have to come in with a positive mindset and be open to the new coach. I have to work hard and show that I want to get better each and every day.”
Asked what he likes to do in his spare time, Apele offered an obvious answer: He likes to go out with his girlfriend Keani Midel, a hoopster at Hilo High, to the gym and, of course, shoot baskets.
All-BIIF boys basketball
Division I
First team
Kiai Apele, 12, Waiakea
Keegan Scanlan, 12, Waiakea
Izayah Chartrand-Penera, 12, Kamehameha
Kaupena Yasso, 11, Kamehameha
Kaukahi Alameda, 12, Hilo
Rayson Padilla, 10, Hilo
Aldrin Gadot, 12, Konawaena
Player of the year: Kiai Apele, Waiakea
Coach of the Year: Mea Wong, Kamehameha
Honorable mention
Kamehameha: Koby Tabuyo-Kahele, Darius Olloway
Waiakea: Elijah Blankenship, Makana Kaehuaea-Credo,
Konawaena: Kahiau Holzgrove, Kainoa Jones, Elisha Martin
Hilo: Lamaku Pana, Guyson Ogata, Mason Galima
Kealakehe: Howard Robert, Tito Cabico
Keaau: Clayton Fung, Ricardo Blass