The long list of Iolani Classic legends is short on local names, but Derrick Low has put up as impressive performances as anyone.
On this date in 2003, Low scored 30 points and Iolani beat Hamilton of Arizona 73-56 in the first round of the tournament. Ryan Hirata and Kyle Pape each scored 12 and the Raiders closed with a 20-9 advantage in the fourth quarter.
Low added five assists and five steals and only missed two of his 14 free throws.
Iolani fell in overtime to No. 7 Montrose Christian the next night when Low missed the second of a one-and-one and Taishi Ito swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Low led all scorers with 16 points with Ito guarding him man-to-man for much of the contest.
The Iolani Classic is the ultimate proving ground for local kids to see if they truly belong at the next level. Low benefited from going to Iolani and being able to showcase every December he was more than capable of playing against out of state competition. Although still to me one of the best performances by a local team in the tourney will be the Kahuku 3rd place finish in 2016.