HILO — Some of the best boys youth basketball talent in the nation will be coming to Hilo town later this month.
The Grind Session, a prestigious winter prep basketball league that takes place in the United States, Canada and Jamaica, is organizing the first-ever Grind Session Hawai‘i — a five-day tournament with elementary and high school teams from the Big Island, outer Hawaiian islands and the mainland. The event will be held from Dec. 26-30, primarily at the Hilo Civic.
Notable boys high school squads flying into Hilo for the week are Prolific Prep from Napa, Calif., and Utah Prep in Hurricane, Uta. — both ranked No.3 and No. 5 nationally, respectively. Utah Prep has the No. 1-ranked player in the country in small forward A.J. Dybantsa, while Prolific has the No. 2 recruit in shooting guard Darryn Peterson, who recently signed with Kansas.
Current NBA players that recently graduated from Prolific Prep are Josh Jackson, Jalen Green and Gary Trent Jr.
The high school portion of the event (Dec. 26-28) will be split into two brackets — a Grind Session bracket with the top prep teams and the regular bracket. Besides Prolific and Utah Prep, two more teams are expected to join the Grind Session bracket. In the regular prep bracket, five Hawai‘i high schools — Kohala, Hilo, Seabury Hall, Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama and Iolani — along with Salesian College Prep from Richmond, Calif., are expected to compete.
In the elementary field, local clubs such as Hokulele, Stingrays, DNA and Hilo will compete in the one-day slate on Dec. 30.
The idea of the tournament was sparked from the nationally-ranked point guard and Washington commit J.J. Mandaquit, a Hilo native who is in his senior season at Utah Prep. Growing up learning the game in East Hawai‘i gymnasiums, Mandaquit played his freshman season at Iolani before transferring to Utah. The Grind Session often holds events in their players’ hometowns, and when the idea of coming to Hilo was brought up, Mandaquit’s father — Jason — was asked to lead the charge.
“Every year, (Grind Session) likes to schedule some games in the hometowns of some of the better players in the league,” Jason Mandaquit told West Hawaii Today. “So at the end of last year’s league, they said they’d like to give J.J. the opportunity to play in Hilo in front of his hometown, family and friends. So it was something that we had been talking about. And then at the beginning of this school year, we really started to put it into action and plan this event.
“We really would like to make this an annual event. Going forward when J.J. is not a part of (Grind Session) anymore, we feel that it is super important for our community, especially the kids who aspire to play basketball, to be exposed to this level of the game. (This tournament) puts it into a better perspective of what it takes to get to that level and play in college.”
J.J. Mandaquit isn’t the only player in the upcoming tournament that is returning to his home state. Teammate Layden Kauka, who was a central contributor on Kohala’s 2023 and 2024 DII state title teams, is arriving back to the Big Island to compete after transferring to Utah Prep for his junior season. Fellow junior teammate Anthony Felesi, a four-star recruit hailing from Laie, will also be competing in Hilo.
The tournament will also be hosting events outside of the games. On Dec. 26, the week will kick off with a free-of-charge keiki clinic from 8 a.m. to noon inside Panaewa Gymnasium, hosted by Utah Prep. The Jr. NBA is one of the primary sponsors, with over 120 campers expected to attend. Camp organizers will be giving away some basketballs and shirts to the keiki.
“It’s a way for us as a school and program (Utah Prep) to give back to something that’s really important to J.J.,” Jason Mandaquit added. “This camp was more of his idea, and being from this community, it was something that felt very important to him. When he was a kid, we practiced all the time at Panaewa Gym, so this is a great way for him to reconnect with his hometown.”
Later that night, Hilo High will be hosting a free alumni event, honoring the 1964, 1991 and 2000 boys basketball state championship teams. Those who attend wearing Hilo attire and write their graduation year at entry will receive free admission, while also being automatically placed in raffle sweepstakes. Some of the raffle’s prizes were donated by iconic Hawaii athletes, such as former MLB player Shane Victorino.
At the conclusion of the night, all of Utah Prep’s team will be available for pictures and autographs for anyone interested, giving the community an opportunity to meet some of the top youth players in the world. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 28, the tournament will be hosting ‘Family Fun Day’ in the Civic’s parking lot, offering a variety of local vendors, games and live music for guests to enjoy. Beginning at 11:30 a.m. that day, tournament organizers will partner with the Hale Pule Ke Ola Hou church in a designated spot to pass out meals to the communities of Keaukaha and Panaewa, using the opportunity to give back to the surrounding areas.
“This was important to J.J. — the cultural aspect of it and these two communities being Hawai‘i homeland,” Mandaquit said. “With him going to Keaukaha Elementary and pretty much growing up in Panaewa Gym, he felt that it was very important to connect with those two communities.”
The tournament will also run a dinner event on Dec. 29 at Aunt Sally Kaleohano’s Lu‘au Hale for the mainland teams to learn more about the islands and their culture, while also being given a hula performance.
With excitement brewing and the event just weeks away, Mandaquit hopes the event will be a beneficial, memorable experience for the community that locals will enjoy not just this year, but for years to come.
“I think if we can get the community to come out and support, then that will go really far in us being able to make this an annual event,” he said. “And if that’s the case, I want to try and make it better and better every year.
“So if we can get the community support, that will go a very long way in the bigger picture of what we can do to hopefully grow this event and give more opportunities to kids who want to play basketball coming out of the Big Island.”
Admission
• Dec. 26 – $5 – General admission
• Dec. 27-28 – $10 – General admission
• Dec. 30 – Free
• All days free for eighth grade and under, high schoolers $1 with student I.D.
Schedule
Dec. 26
• 8 a.m. Free youth clinic at Panaewa Gym
• 3 p.m. Opening ceremony – Kihei Nahalea
• 3:30 p.m. Hilo vs. Seabury Hall
• 5:15 p.m. KS-Kapalama vs. Salesian College Prep
• 6:45 p.m. Hilo High Alumni Night/Honoring of HHS state championship teams
• 7:30 Kohala vs. Iolani
Dec. 27
• 12:30 p.m. Hilo vs. KS-Kapalama
• 2:15 p.m. Iolani vs. Seabury Hall
• 4 p.m. Salesian College Prep vs. Kohala
• 6 p.m. Utah Prep vs. TBD
• 8 p.m. Prolific Prep vs. TBD
Dec. 28
• 10 a.m. Family Fun Day in Civic parking lot
• 10 a.m. Hilo vs. Iolani
• 11:45 a.m. Salesian College Prep vs. Seabury Hall
• 1:30 p.m. Kohala vs. KS-Kapalama (awards to follow)
• Winners will advance to games later that day; awards to follow
Dec. 29
• 5 p.m. event dinner at Aunt Sally’s
Dec. 30
• 12:30 p.m. Hokulele vs. Hilo (sixth grade)
• 1:30 p.m. Hokulele vs. DNA (eigth grade)
• 2:30 p.m. Hilo vs. Stingrays (eigth grade)
• 4 p.m. Hilo vs. Utah Prep (exhibition)
