Former UH stars return for competitive alumni game

Former UH stars return for competitive alumni game

Former UH stars return for competitive alumni game

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED JULY 10, 2025

HONOLULU – What’s old is new.

At least it was on Wednesday night as various Hawaii basketball alumni took to the Stan Sheriff Center floor once again, seeing 12 former Rainbow Warrior standouts split into two teams to compete in a semi-impromptu alumni game with media, game officials and uniforms all prepared for a fun mid-July night.

The UH alumni donned the program’s new Nike threads while the current Rainbow Warriors mingled on the bench with them, watching as Team Green came back to defeat Team White, 88-85. Juan Munoz, who is the program’s new director of player development, led all scorers with 25 points while knocking down seven 3-pointers for Team Green.

Bernardo da Silva chipped in 20 points for the squad in green, tallying 14 of them after halftime. The game, which came together late with a group of men’s basketball alumni on the island training during the summer months sparking the idea, completed a few days of eras coming together.

“This is just a really incredible couple of days,” head coach Eran Ganot said following Wednesday’s game. “We had a great dinner last night … we wanted our guys to be able to wear [the Hawaii uniform] again.”

Ganot called the experience “a little surreal” with so many different eras of faces together and added the desire to build off of it and grow into a bigger event. Samuta Avea, who did not play in the game as he erred on the side of caution with an injury history and professional season to be ready for around the corner, agreed with Ganot on hoping to make the game happen more in the future with a bigger plan and expressed gratitude for the chance to see so many friendly faces together.

Kamaka Hepa, who had 15 points for the victorious Team Green, called the night “a blast” and compared the joy of playing in the game to the level he felt growing up and falling in the love with the sport as a kid. The 6-foot-10 forward, who spent last season playing professionally in Germany, made sure to mention his hopes that future years will involve the fans even more.

“Hopefully we can build on it and make it bigger and bigger,” Hepa said about future alumni games. “Maybe [we can] get some more fans out here for next year and make it happen and make the most of it and do something for the community, that’s what’s really important.”

While he was very busy enjoying playing with old teammates and different alumni, Hepa also thought about ways to add to the game in the future. He tossed out ideas that resembled a type of “UH athletics block party” with fans invited to enjoy different vendors and mingle with alumni and current players before watching an alumni game at 6 p.m. inside the Stan Sheriff Center.

“Something like that where we can really get the community out here, let them have some fun in the sun, enjoy the nice weather, get some food outside and then we come in for a game [that night],” said Hepa. “[Fans] could watch some of their old favorite players play a friendly game. That’s how I see it progressing, hopefully we can get there. Obviously, there are a lot of things that have to go right but if anybody can do it, it’s going to be this program and the coaches here and the support staff that we have here.”

FINAL STATS:

GREEN – 88

  • Juan Munoz (’24) – 25 points, 7 made 3PT
  • Bernardo da Silva (’24) – 20 points
  • Negus Webster-Chan (’15) – 16 points, 3 made 3PT
  • Kamaka Hepa (’23) – 15 points, 1 made 3PT
  • Mike Thomas (’18) – 9 points, 1 made 3PT
  • Zoar Nedd (’23) – 3 points, 1 made 3PT

WHITE – 85

  • Eddie Stansberry (’20) – 17 points, 3 made 3PT
  • Gibson Johnson (’18) – 17 points, 2 made 3PT
  • Noah Allen (’17) – 16 points, 3 made 3PT
  • Tanner Christensen (’25) – 14 points
  • Jerome Derosiers (’22) – 13 points, 3 made 3PT
  • Brock Stepteau (’19) – 8 points
Fifth annual Chace Numata Senior All-Star Game has dramatic finish

Fifth annual Chace Numata Senior All-Star Game has dramatic finish

 

Fifth annual Chace Numata Senior All-Star Game has dramatic finish

BY MICHAEL LASQUERO | HSRN
PUBLISHED JULY 5, 2025

For the second straight year, the annual Chace Numata Senior All-Star Classic had a dramatic finish.

The Aloha Stars rallied from a 6-0 deficit to turn back the Hawaiian Stars in extra innings, 9-8, Friday afternoon at Les Murakami Stadium in the fifth edition of the baseball all-star game for Hawai’i high school graduating seniors.

The game honors the memory of Chace Numata, a 2010 graduate of Pearl City. Numata was a 14th-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Phillies before landing in the Detroit Tigers organization. Numata died in 2019 from injuries in a skateboard mishap while he was playing for the Tigers’ Double-A team, the Erie SeaWolves.

His father, Nathan “Homey” Numata, serves as one of the coaches on the all-star teams.

“I’ve known coach Homey for a really long time now. They’ve coached me when I was in youth ages,” said Kamehameha-Kapalama’s Greyson Osbun.

“To get a chance to honor his son and play in this game was huge. I’m super honored and humble to be here today.”

Osbun, who signed with Nevada, was named the most valuable player of the game after picking up the win on the mound for team Aloha, which comprised of players from the ILH and the BIIF.

He wasn’t expecting to pitch because Nevada had him resting his arm after the high school season, but was given the opportunity to pitch after team Aloha tied the game at seven in the top of the ninth to the dismay of team Hawaiian, the designated home team.

Osbun delivered with a scoreless ninth and did not allow an earned run in the 10th inning (the runner that starts at second to start the extra inning do not count towards ERA).

“I felt good. I think adrenaline really kicked in towards the end, have an opportunity to win this game. I think tomorrow I’ll probably feel it a little more,” said Osbun.

Iolani’s Treyden Chong Kee was named the offensive player of the game after scoring two runs and delivering a two RBI triple in the top of the fifth to get team Aloha on the scoreboard. He also placed second in the home-to-home dash with a time of 14.75 seconds.

“It was fun, I really pride myself in myself speed,” said Chong Kee, who will play his first collegiate season at Central Arizona. “Being able to do that and show off my speed was a great experience.”

Chong Kee credits his speed to the hours spent in the weight room.

“Deadlifting a lot,” he said. “It’s all in your hamstrings.”

Pearl City’s Noah Bernal was the only one that was faster than Chong Kee in the home-to-home dash with a time of 14.5 seconds.

The defensive player of the game was Maui’s Nick Nashiwa, who spent time at right field, second base and catcher for team Hawaiian, which was made up of players from the OIA, MIL and KIF.

Kashiwa also won the ‘pop-time’ catcher’s competition, throwing from home plate to second base in 1.77 seconds.

“I was pretty surprised because I wasn’t really throwing that much. I was just going to see what happens, have some fun since I’m only here for the day,” said Nashiwa.

“It’s a real blessing to be out here and playing with these guys. Everybody here is super talented. I just come out here to have fun, do me and whatever happens happens. I’m just super grateful for every opportunity that I get and every opportunity to come play baseball somewhere.”

Nashiwa, who will play at Golden West College next year, helped record the first two outs of the ninth inning while team Hawaiian was holding on to a 7-6 lead.

With runners at the corners, he caught a pop fly at second base for the first out. For the second out of the inning, Kamehameha-Maui catcher Duke Aloy threw to second to catch the runner on first from stealing. The throw and the tag by Nashiwa was not in time, but Nashiwa threw right back to home with Chong Kee advancing from third and Aloy was able to make the tag to preserve the lead momentarily.

“I always know that Duke got me with a good throw at second base. I wasn’t too worried, but when I had to dive for that ball, I was kind of like ‘I know he’s going to run’ because Treyden is an aggressive runner. I didn’t really think, I just got up and threw it,” Nashiwa said of the 2-4-2 out.

“I knew Duke had my back with a good tag on the other end. I just had the faith in him to get a good tag and get him out.”

Leilehua’s Blaze Manutai got the scoring started in the bottom of the third with a sac fly to bring Aloy home for the first run of the game. Pearl City’s Ethan Higashionna then hit a bases clearing triple to make it a 4-0 game before he later scored after Waianae’s Chaseten Rice reached on an error.

Moanalua’s Kyler Shojinaga pushed team Hawaiian’s lead to 6-0 in the fourth with a sac fly to drive in Mililani’s Kai Hirayama, who started the game on the mound and rotated at center field.

Team Aloha got into the scoring column in the fifth with Chong Kee’s two RBI triple. Kamehameha’s Logan Sanchez later brought Chong Kee home to make it a 6-3 game.

PAC-5’s Ethan Lee had a two RBI double in the top of the eighth to make it a 6-5 game before Kamehameha’s Kainoa Kaneshiro tied the game on an RBI.

Mililani’s Kaleb Wada’s two-out RBI single to left in the bottom of the eighth regained the lead for team Hawaiian before Mid-Pacific’s Adam Kobayashi drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game in the top of the ninth.

Chong Kee started the 10th inning as a base runner on second base and would score on a passed ball with the bases loaded. Kamehameha’s Dillon Andres had a sac fly to center field to score Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Justin Kubojiri to make it a 9-7 game in favor of team Aloha.

Mililani’s Ryne Yoshimura was the base runner that started on second to begin the bottom of the frame and reached third after a groundout by Aloy. Yoshimura would score on a passed ball before a flyout to center meant team Hawaiian was down to its last out.

Osbun gave up a four-pitch walk to the next batter, but came right back with a game-ending strikeout to cap the comeback for team Aloha.

 

Special Olympics Hawaii Summer Games 2025 coverage

Special Olympics Hawaii Summer Games 2025 coverage

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SPECIAL OLYMPICS HAWAII SUMMER GAMES 2025 coverage

BY HSRN STAFF
PUBLISHED JUNE 11, 2025

There were no Rainbow Warrior or Rainbow Wahine sporting events last weekend, but the Hawai’i Sports Radio Network team was at the University of Hawai’i covering the 2025 Special Olympics Summer Games.

HSRN provided live stream coverage of the opening ceremony and swimming events while providing a full broadcast with play-by-play commentary of the Softball Unified Finals.

Replays of those events as well as photos from the many events going on over the three-day summer games can be found below.

Hawaii uses the long ball to advance over UC Santa Barbara, 6-2

Hawaii uses the long ball to advance over UC Santa Barbara, 6-2

 

Hawai’i celebrates after Ben Zeigler-Namoa’s three-run blast gave the Rainbow Warriors the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth. | Photo Credit: ESPN+

Hawaii uses the long ball to advance over UC Santa Barbara, 6-2

BY MICHAEL LASQUERO | HSRN
PUBLISHED MAY 21, 2025

FULLERTON, Calif. — Hawai’i baseball coach Rich Hill did not plan on checking out of the hotel that his team is staying in until next Monday.

The Rainbow Warriors made sure his wish was granted after a Big West elimination game Wednesday afternoon.

Ben Zeigler-Namoa’s three-run blast in the bottom of the fifth gave Hawai’i the lead for good as its pulled away from UC Santa Barbara, 6-2, at Goodwin Field.

With the victory the Rainbow Warriors advance to the double-elimination portion of the conference’s postseason and will play top-seeded UC-Irvine Thursday at 12:00 p.m. HST.

Zeigler-Namoa’s sixth home run of the season gave Hawai’i a 4-2 lead in the win-or-go-home contest. A two-run homer by Matthew Miura in the seventh gave the Rainbow Warriors their final runs of the ball game.

The bullpen tandem of Corey Ronan and Isaiah Magdaleno combined for the final 15 outs against the Gauchos. Ronan replaced starter Cooper Walls in the fifth after 64 pitches and earned his third win of season while Magdaleno recorded his eighth save of the year by picking up the final eight outs.

“They’re unreal, all of our arms are unreal,” Zeigler-Namoa said in ESPN+ broadcast postgame. “I thought we had a great start from Cooper today. Bullpen arms, they’ve always been lockdown, man those boys can throw a baseball and they hung on to do it. Just some timely hitting, ultimately it was a great time.”

UCSB starting pitcher Jackson Flora was charged with the loss after six innings of work. He was someone that Hawai’i saw success against during the regular season in a 15-7 win on March 15. Zeigler-Namoa said the game plan was to stay on Flora’s fast ball and adjust to his off-speed pitches.

When Flora offered a 97 mph fast ball on a 0-1 count during Zeigler-Namoa’s third time up to bat, the Hawai’i first baseman was ready to flip the game in the Rainbow Warriors’ favor.

“I didn’t realize it was 97 (mph). I was seeing the ball really well today,” Zeiger-Namoa said. “Ultimately we were just trying to go out there and do everything we can to win.”

Flora was pulled in the bottom of the seventh after giving up a leadoff single to No. 9 hitter Hunter Faildo, who led off a half-inning for the third time of the game.

The next UCSB pitcher — Cole Tryba — didn’t fair any better as Matthew Miura crushed Tryba’s first pitch for a two-run home run and a 6-2 Hawai’i lead.

Hawai’i struck first in the ball game in the bottom of the second on Elijah Ickes’ sac fly to score Jared Quandt.

The Gauchos tied the game in the top of the third on Isaac Kim’s single and took a brief lead in the fifth on Nate Vargas’ sac fly before Zeigler-Namoa gave Hawai’i the lead for good in the bottom of the frame.

Hawai’i will now look to earn its first win of the year against UC-Irvine after getting swept by the Anteaters in a road series in mid-April during the regular season.

Hawai’i hammers UC San Diego, claims last Big West berth

Hawai’i hammers UC San Diego, claims last Big West berth

 

The Hawai’i baseball team’s senior class poses for a group photo after closing out the 2025 Big West regular season. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Hawai’i hammers UC San Diego, claims last Big West berth

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED MAY 18, 2025

HONOLULU – What a sensational Senior Sunday.

The University of Hawai’i baseball team turned in a convincing 13-2 victory over UC San Diego (26-25, 15-15 Big West) on Sunday afternoon, using two home runs from shortstop Jordan Donahue and first baseman Ben Zeigler-Namoa’s perfect day at the plate to secure the final conference tournament berth and the No. 4 seed in the Big West bracket.

Seniors Jordan Donahue (left) and Ben Zeigler-Namoa (right) fires up some shakas after the game. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Right-hander Freddy Rodriguez picked up the victory for the Rainbow Warriors, turning in 4.0 innings of filth out in relief as he struck out three and allowed only one of the 13 batters he faced to reach base.

Hawai’i (33-19, 16-14 Big West) needed a win entering the day, facing what amounted to a one-game playoff against the Tritons for the final available spot in the first-ever Big West Baseball Tournament. After giving the team an inning out of the bullpen in Thursday night’s win, sophomore southpaw Sebastian Gonzalez got the start on Sunday and recorded 4.0 innings of strong work as he gave up a pair of solo home runs while otherwise limiting Triton traffic on the basepaths.

Six different players recorded an RBI for UH, but it was Donahue who delivered the big blow for the Rainbow Warriors with his grand slam over the wall in right field during a six-run third inning, his first home run of the season. The senior added Big Fly No. 2 in his next at-bat, smoking a no-doubt solo shot to extend the lead in the fifth. He finished the day 4-for-5 at the plate with a career-high five runs batted in, matching a season-best with three runs scored for good measure.

Zeigler-Namoa reached in all five of his plate appearances, slapping four singles in his first four at-bats before drawing a walk his final time up. The Lahaina-native also scored twice in what could be his final game inside Les Murakami Stadium, though the veteran utilityman does have another season of eligibility remaining and has not made a final decision on a return.

UC San Diego struck fast in the first, seeing Big West Conference’s home run leader Matthew Crossland detonate a solo bomb to right to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage before UH had even stepped up to bat. Hawai’i responded with a run in the bottom of the second frame when Xaige Lancaster blooped an RBI single into left to score Kamana Nahaku.

Kamana Nahaku (25) was one of the many seniors that were honored Sunday afternoon after the Rainbow Warriors secured the series victory. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Senior right fielder Jared Quandt gave the ‘Bows the lead in the bottom of the third with a one-out RBI single that scored Matt Miura from second base. After Elijah Ickes reached on a fielder’s choice and loaded the bases, Nahaku pushed another run home with an RBI walk before Donahue demolished a grand slam to break the game open and give a 7-1 advantage to Hawai’i.

Tritons third baseman JC Allen tacked on a solo home run of his own in the top of the fourth to pull UCSD within a handful, but that was the final run the visitors would produce as Freddy Rodriguez and Isaiah Magdaleno combined for five shutout innings out of the bullpen for the Rainbow Warriors.

After doubling to lead off the bottom half of the seventh, Jordan Donahue moved to third on a sac fly and stole home to add on to an incredible performance by the senior and the UH lead. The hosts added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, delighting the home crowd one last time before the regular season finished.

Magdaleno calmly closed out the game with a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning, getting one last tune-up before the Big West Tournament.

Quandt and catcher Hunter Faildo each went 2-for-5 in the win for Hawai’i, ending their home careers on a high note. Faildo also stole his second base of his UH career while Kamana Nahaku reached base three times despite going hitless in his final home game.

Following the game, 13 seniors for Hawai’i, including Zeigler-Namoa, were honored as part of usual Senior Day ceremonies. An experienced group, the 13 student-athletes boast more than 700 starts combined in their careers and helped deliver the program back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time in over a decade.

The group felt a rush of emotions over the course of Sunday but admitted that the day didn’t hit as heavy as other senior celebrations because of the excitement and ability to continue playing and fighting towards something this season with the victory.

Hawai’i will head to the campus of Cal State Fullerton for the inaugural Big West Tournament, taking on No. 5-seeded UC Santa Barbara in a single-elimination play-in game on Wednesday, May 21 with first pitch scheduled for 9 a.m. HT. With a win over the Gauchos, the Rainbow Warriors would advance into the double-elimination bracket with a first-round game against top-seeded UC Irvine on Thursday, May 22.

Since joining the Big West Conference, the Rainbow Warriors have not reached the NCAA Tournament. Hawai’i last made the dance in 2010 as members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), going 2-2 in the NCAA Regional round and bowing out after losing twice to Arizona State.

Return of the King: Punahou reigns in boys volleyball once again

Return of the King: Punahou reigns in boys volleyball once again

 

The Punahou boys volleyball team poses for a photo after winning the Division I state championship. | Photo credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Return of the King: Punahou reigns in boys volleyball once again

BY MICHAEL LASQUERO | HSRN
PUBLISHED MAY 11, 2025

HONOLULU – Death, taxes and the Punahou boys volleyball team winning a state title.

The Buffanblu completed an undefeated season with their record 40th state championship after a four-set win over Kamehameha at Moanalua Saturday night.

Tournament most outstanding player Tanoa Scanlan put down a match-high 21 kills and Cameron Porter added 17 kills with nine digs to power Punahou (18-0) to a 25-23, 20-25, 25-20, 25-7 win over the Warriors (15-7), who snapped a string of 10 consecutive titles by the Buffanblu a year ago.

Punahou’s Cameron Porter was at the service line to close out a 5-0 run in set three. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

“I think in the offseason and during the start of the season, we all knew we needed to bring it back to Punahou,” said Porter.

“Seeing my (older) brother and some of the upperclassmen have to leave without a win last year, it motivated all of us to work hard in practice and make sure we executed in games. It lead to a really ‘together’ group that worked really hard and executed tonight.”

Punahou coach Rick Tune, who has led the Buffanblu to 13 state titles, noted that it required a lot of hard work.

The Punahou boys volleyball team celebrates after a point in the fourth set against Kamehameha. Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

“I’m going to be honest with you, this was a lot of work that these boys put in. Their families put in, our school put in, our coaching staff put in with these guys. We’re a really young team. We only had one returning starter from last year’s team so much of it was how to be under the bright lights.”

The two squads split the first two sets of the championship match which set up a pivotal third set. Punahou held a 20-16 lead before Kamehameha tied it at 20, only to see the Buffanblu fire off a 5-0 run to close out the frame with Porter at the service line.

With 25 points to go to win the state title in set four, Punahou came out in a fury. The Buffanblu led 7-0 and 12-1 before winning the final set in convincing fashion by a differential of 18 points.

“We’ve been talking about being good on both sides of the ball and how dominant that we can be on both sides of the ball. When we’re executing and doing the right things, that last set, that was an announcement,” Tune said.

“That was an announcement that this team has arrived. That team played on both sides on the ball and that’s what they can do.”

Conor Wlliams had 14 kills and Cain Kahahawai added 10 more to lead the Warriors in the loss.