Jayden Villena spent his offseason running and getting in great shape, like the rest of his St. Joseph basketball teammates.
After the Cardinals finished winless in BIIF Division II last season, coach Linden Villena made sure his players would be at their fittest.
“Last year, we ran out of gas,” he said. “We had them do timed miles. They hated it.
“We’ve got interchangeable players, seven players I can put in who I trust. But everyone will be an important player for us.”
The Cardinals are still reworking their roster as they host their Cardinal Classic, sponsored by Aiona car sales and realty, starting Thursday at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
The three-day tourney features Iolani, the ILH runner-up and third-place finisher at the HHSAA tourney last year. In the first round at states, the Raiders walloped Hilo 72-45. The two meet Saturday.
Nathan Faletoi, a junior center for St. Joe, will be out for an undetermined time due to a hand injury.
Also, St. Joseph continues to serve as a farm system for Waiakea. Sophomore guard Paul Isotani Jr., the team’s best shooter, transferred to Waiakea. Two years ago, Keegan Scanlan also became a Warrior.
Last season, the Warriors won their third BIIF Division I title in the last four years. The Cards are still shooting for their first BIIF title since 2016. That year, Cole deSilva, a homegrown Cardinal since preschool, led the team.
There’s little chance Jayden Villena, a sophomore guard/forward, will join his good friend Isotani at Waiakea. His dad is a St. Joseph graduate and wants to see his son stick around and grow as a Cardinal.
“He’s worked hard on his shooting and his ball-handling,” the second-year coach said. “One thing he needs to work on is his court vision.”
That’s the typical role of a father/coach, offer limited praise and readily point out areas for improvement.
The Cards caught a good break in that department with assistant coach Derek Bissitt, a teacher at the school, who also coached high school in Kansas. Villena served as a personnel scout. He knew about Bissitt and asked him to hop aboard.
The team was practicing its press-break offense at Hilo Civic, knowing full well that Honokaa, its opening opponent, will apply its 2-2-1 press.
Evan Costales, a junior guard, is another solid ball-handler. He and Villena will share the job of running the offense, dribbling and passing out of trouble and trying to get entry passes to post players like Faletoi, when he gets healthy, and junior forward Johnathan Eftink, who’s got a soft touch around the rim.
To give him motivation, his brother Daniel Eftink, a freshman forward, is on the team. The brothers will battle for playing time, a good reason as any for both to always play hard.
There are five freshmen. Forward Cesar Rivera, guard Blayden-James Grace, center Brock Marshall, and guard/forward Noah Soistman are the others besides Daniel Eftink.
Villena wishes he had a junior varsity squad but that would leave him with a really short bench.
The team also got a boost with the addition of senior guard, Jensen Dela Cruz, who didn’t play last season. He may not be the most experienced, but he’ll lead in one important category.
“He shows a lot of fight during practice,” Villena said. “He’s a leader by example. He’ll hustle and fight for everything.
“Evan will accept challenges. If a ball-handler gets in trouble, he’s like, ‘I’ll take it.’ He leads by example. He’s an energy guy on the court.”
Zane Gentry, a junior forward, will also start.
“He’s Mr. Hustle,” Villena said. “Sometimes he has no brakes. He’ll go end to end full blast.”
One valuable Cardinal, not playing but still on the team, is Nanami Taono, who’s from Japan. She’s age ineligible but serves as a manager and still practices with the team.
Her sharp-shooting skills from the free throw line are well appreciated by her teammates. During free throw drills, if a player misses everyone is running. When she goes to the line, the team can catch a breather.
“If she makes it, they don’t run,” Villena said. “That’s a good thing.
“Other than the coaches, she’s the most vocal one on the bench. She didn’t always used to be that way.”
It’s obvious that her time at St. Joseph served her well. Taono grew out of her shell. That’s the type of development Villena is hoping to see with all his Cardinals.
“We want them to focus on communication,” he said. “They talk during practice, but during games they go mute. It’s all the little things that matter, like closing out with your hands up. We want them to play for each other. We want them to be disciplined on offense and defense.”
There are good lessons to learn about team sports, especially at small schools like St. Joseph. Jayden Villena has likely heard different versions of the same speech during the drive home to dinner after practices and games from his dad.
“The goal is to progress and gain confidence in every game,” Linden Villena said. “When you play as a team, great things can happen.”
Schedule
Thursday
Waiakea vs. Pahoa, 3 p.m.
St. Joseph vs. Honokaa, 4:30 p.m.
Maui vs. Hilo, 6 p.m.
Iolani vs. Kamehameha, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Pahoa vs. Kamehameha, 3 p.m.
Hilo vs. Honokaa, 4:30 p.m.
Maui vs. St. Joseph, 6 p.m.
Waiakea vs. Iolani, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Iolani vs. Hilo, 11:30 a.m.
Maui vs. Honokaa, 1 p.m.
Pahoa vs. St. Joseph, 2:30 p.m.
Waiakea vs. Hilo, 4 p.m.
Kamehameha vs. Maui, 5:30 p.m.