Does St. Francis have boys? Are they going to have a basketball team? Are they entering the ILH Intermediate Division 1? The answer is YES. In this historic first year Mr. Sol Batoon took our team to great heights.
On Nov. 17, 2008 the pre-season started on a rainy & windy evening at Hanalani School. We came away with a run away victory. We were 3-1 in preseason losing only to Punahou.
We opened our ILH season by falling to Iolani on Dec. 3rd. We then went on a four game winning streak defeating Maryknoll, St. Louis, Damien & Mid-Pac. We ended the regular season by losing two overtime games at Kamehameha & Punahou. We ended the regular season with a 4-3 record putting us in the top half of the playoffs.
The New Year Fireworks began for us on Jan 2nd at St. Louis. We defeated previously undefeated Kamehameha 59-54 in double overtime. It was a most thrilling game from start to finish. We definitely had the gym rocking. This was by far our best game of the season. Unfortunately we lost our last two games by rather small margins. Our historic season ended with an 8-6 overall record.
Many of us remember the Fabulous Five of the University of Hawaii—well we had 5 eighth graders, who were our Fabulous Five. They played almost all the minutes. Kahanu Puulei our outstanding point guard, Austin Usua our outside shooter, Keoni-Ray Millare, our strong rebounder, Isaac Savaiinaea, our big center and point maker, and the quickness of Jon-Michael Sharsh. We had 7th graders Shawn Batiste & Egene Kim on the bench. We also had a group of 8, 7th graders who formed our team in the Division II. Mr. Batoon has given us a solid foundation for the J.V. team for next year and another strong Intermediate Team for next year. Mr. David Takaki guided our other Intermediate Team.
Also making history was our St. Francis Cheerleaders. Two seniors, Josette Villaro & Taylor Keala Pestano approached Mr. Michael Chu about forming a Cheerleading Squad. Mr. Chu served as the faculty advisor and Josette & Keala did all the coaching. We were in uniform at the Hanalani game and throughout the season. There was 1 freshmen, 5 eight graders and 1 seventh grader. Once again the future looks bright as the Squad will get larger and continue to follow the boys in the sports. The cheerleading squad will also work for the Girls teams in the future.
Great Season History Was Made The SAINTS are on the map Pride in St. Francis School
