The Laupahoehoe Community Public Charter School girls basketball team didn’t win a Big Island Interscholastic Federation game last season or the year before, but still brought something to the table.
Last season, the league stood on shaky ground concerning berths to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II state tournament. With the Seasiders on board for the second straight season, the BIIF received three state spots for the third consecutive year.
The Seasiders returned to the league during the 2011-12 school year, after a three-year absence. The past two seasons, the team posted an 0-10 record each time under coach Joey Martin.
The first year back, Laupahoehoe was under the Department of Education’s umbrella. Last season, the Seasiders were run by the LCPCS, which touts the motto “Building a great community school that lives aloha,” on its website.
Martin’s daughter, Aretta Martin, is the new coach. Neither she nor Joey Martin could be reached for comment for this preview.
Last year, Kai-Lyn Requelman and shooting guard Shayla Anderson were returning starters. Both are now juniors. It is unknown if both are still at the charter school.
During the 2011-12 school year, the Seasiders played with a roster of only five players, including four freshmen.
According to the school’s website, a statement about local control reads, “Our school is no longer a small fish in the big DOE pond. We answer to a local Governing Board made up of elected and appointed school administrators, teachers, staff, parents, students, and community members. The local board is an autonomous governing body with the independent authority to determine the organization and management of our school and curriculum. Decisions aren’t made in Honolulu, but in, by and for the Laupahoehoe community.”
End of an era
As long as seemingly forever, there has always been boys basketball at Laupahoehoe, which captured BIIF championships in 1966 and 1970 and Division A state titles both years.
The school was founded in 1883 and merged with the HHSAA, the governing body of state tournaments, in 1956. That’s a long line of season after season of hoops.
And more than anything the Seasiders have built a tradition-rich history of bloodline basketball, going from fathers to sons in the same royal blue-and-gold uniforms that pass down that proud spirit from one generation to the next.
However, there will be no boys basketball at Laupahoehoe for the 2013-14 season. There will not be a junior varsity team either. In a story preview last season, the roster of seven, including four seniors, predicted boys basketball wouldn’t continue in the LCPCS’s second year.
In the LCPCS’s first school year in 2012-13, there were 40 high school students. During the previous 2011-12 school year, when the Seasiders were under the DOE, there was an enrollment of 62 high school students.
“For sure, it’s the last year for Laupahoehoe basketball,” Keanu Domingo said in the Jan. 4 story. “There are not too much kids around. I’d say I know about 10-plus kids who went to Hilo or Honokaa because they didn’t like being a charter school.”
Before the BIIF season started, the Seasiders expressed frustrations with new policies.
The Seasiders were scheduled to play in the Konawaena preseason tournament, with some parents looking to turn the trip into a mini-vacation, but the team pulled out. A teacher was required to be there, according to team members.
There is also a school policy that requires hats be removed when students are indoors, including any part of the facility, such as walkways and areas in front of the classrooms, band room and gym. Team members said the rules didn’t apply to security staff.
“It’s sad. My whole family is sad to see it die. That’s pretty much what everybody thinks,” Justin Jose said in the team preview. “I had a lot of family play for the school. My dad, Leroy, played basketball and five uncles played basketball.”
Doug Connors was the LCPCS athletic director for the 2012-13 school year. He has been replaced by Martin.
LCPCS also isn’t fielding a girls junior varsity basketball team for the 2013-14 season, which starts Dec. 3.