Oak Hill Returns to Iolani Classic as Coach Steve Smith Reminisces
by Susan Shan, Sports in Review
susanshan.com [excerpt]
December 11, 2010 — 11 years ago, I attended my first Iolani Classic. The championship game that year featured No. 1 Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) vs. No. 2 Dominguez (Compton, Calif.). Oak Hill won in a 54-50 thriller, and Kentucky-bound Cliff Hawkins was named the Most Valuable Player. In addition, I got to interview Tyson Chandler.
Oak Hill head coach Steve Smith said in a phone interview yesterday, “I remember that game. I remember that game well. It was a really good game – close and exciting.”
Over a decade later, not much has changed. Oak Hill is once again No. 1 in both the USA Today and ESPN RISE rankings with an 11-0 record. They have one game left vs. Sumter on Saturday before they leave for Hawaii.
Smith, who has his choice of holiday tournaments, has been bringing the Warriors to Honolulu since 1988 (though not every year).
“The Hawaii tournament has top-notch competition. Semifinals, finals, you can’t find a better game on your schedule all season long. Obviously, being in Honolulu, Hawaii, that’s an attraction. Most of our kids have never been there. I like taking our guys to different places, places they’ve never gone to,” he said.
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