Student-Built Basketball Tournament Returns for Third Year

“I started this my freshman year,” Graziella Reese said. “I asked if I could create a basketball tournament for the high school and Aunty Nat [Ropa] and Sadie [Schilling] helped me with the resources.”

Last Sunday, March 29, at Lānaʻi High & Elementary School (LHES), students played at the Pedro de la Cruz Gym for the third annual Lānaʻi Basketball Showdown, organized by Graziella, a junior at LHES. What began as a freshman idea has continued as a student-run tournament that returns each year outside the regular Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) season.

The tournament draws students from grades 8 through 12 into mixed teams, combining experienced players with those new to the sport. “We mix it around so people that never played basketball before are on the same team as people that played varsity,” she said. “So it’s kind of all equal and fair.”

Four teams competed this year: Green Nuggets, Sexy Reds, Six-Seven Super Squad, and Scuba Elite. The format kept the event moving with five-minute quarters, two matchups, and a final. “It’s just for fun,” Graziella said. “Nobody gets mad at each other and it’s just to joke around.”

Players and volunteers were gifted shirts for the event, which also included a message encouraging students to vote for Graziella as she runs for next school year’s Associated Student Body (ASB) president.

Organizing the event required coordinating sign-ups, balancing teams, and working around existing sports schedules. “I had 2 people that couldn’t make it, so I had to fix the teams so it would be equal again,” she said. “I want to make sure everyone or majority of people can sign up that want to.”

Interest in the event has extended beyond the tournament night itself. “During school, people always ask me, like, when are you going to do the tournament again,” she said.

“It’s a lot of work setting up, but it’s fun,” Graziella said. “I wouldn’t be able to do any of this anywhere else.”