I hope you got to enjoy some of the great preseason boys basketball tournaments that took place over the weekend. I know our ScoringLive crew did. I was fortunate enough to catch some games at three of the four tourneys. Here are some early observations on the teams that I saw live:

IOLANI — The Raiders (3-0) relied heavily on senior guard Zach Buscher in their 53-42 win over Saint Francis in a semifinal of the Surfriders' Holiday Classic Friday night. The 6-foot-3 Buscher scored 13 points with three steals against the Saints and followed that up with 20 points in Saturday night's 62-48 win over Kamehameha in the title game. Iolani lacks height (just three players taller than 6-1) and will have to develop 6-foot-7 freshman post Hugh Hogland over the course of the season to help with an inside presence. Senior guard Chris Gallacher, who scored 17 points in a 73-63 win over Lahainaluna Thursday, is a viable second option to Buscher offensively, but the Raiders played solid defense throughout the tournament.

SAINT FRANCIS — The Saints (3-3) went 1-2 in the Surfrider Classic, with losses to Iolani and host-Kailua, but should be in a position to defend their Division II state crown come February. Senior Matthew Nuumanaia led them in scoring in all three games (22 points in a win over Waipahu, 11 points against Iolani and 20 versus Kailua). At 6-foot, 5-inches, Nuumanaia does a little bit of everything, including point-guard duties here and there. I was looking forward to watching junior guard Ranan Mamiya in action Friday against Iolani, but he picked up three early fouls and wasn't much of a factor. Senior post Blayne Won provides some toughness in the paint. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Saint Francis when they host the annual Merv Lopes Invitational in two weeks.

KAMEHAMEHA — The Warriors (3-1) took runner-up honors at the Surfrider Classic. Wish I could have caught Saturday's championship game against Iolani, but from what I saw in their semifinal win over Kailua Friday night, first-year coach Greg Tacon has this team ahead pretty far along this early in the preseason. Kamehameha was led in scoring by different players in each of its three weekend games: Elijah Leslie had 15 points vs. Waianae, Alakai Freitas 16 points vs. Kailua and Jaycob Smith 16 points vs. Iolani. That could be perceived negatively as a lack of a go-to-scorer or positively as a sign of a well-rounded offense. Time will tell. Kamehameha has a solid ball-handler in sophomore guard Fatu Sua-Godinet, who made several nice passes against Kailua. Another sophomore, Saint Gelacio, is a tough on-ball defender. Senior guard Jayven Sablay did not play in any of its three games at Kailua.

KAILUA — The Surfriders (2-1) had a good showing at their own tournament, claiming third place with their 47-42 win over Saint Francis Saturday. The tandem of point guard William Kailimai (14 points vs. Kamehameha) and forward/center Matthew Bishop (19 points vs. Saint Francis) are a nice 1-2 punch, but Kailua struggled mightily from the free-throw line all weekend. The Surfriders were a combined 49 of 115 (42.6 percent) at the charity stripe, including a 16-of-40 effort in a 43-39 win over Iolani II Thursday. Of the OIA Red East teams, I have yet to see Kahuku, Kalaheo, Moanalua and Roosevelt live, but it looks like the Surfriders have the potential to contend with the top teams in the division.

MCKINLEY — The Tigers (3-1) are small (no player taller than 6-2), but play to their strengths with an uptempo, run-and-gun style. McKinley arguably had the upset of the weekend with its 49-48 win over Maryknoll Thursday in the Black and Gold Classic, but the Spartans played without Joshua Burnett and Kaleb Gilmore left the game with an apparent ankle injury. I caught the Tigers Saturday morning when they rallied to upset ILH D2-team University High, 54-52. They hit five 3-pointers in that game (three by senior guard Dayton Lee and two by senior guard Erolino Javier). Lee also had a team-high 12 points against Maryknoll (stats were not reported from Friday's 71-64 loss to Saint Louis). Sophomore center Nelson Pita is the only true post player on the team. In fact, 13 of the 15 players on the roster are listed as guards.

UNIVERSITY HIGH — The Junior Rainbows (2-1) posted low-scoring wins over Kapolei (32-25) Thursday and Kaimuki (35-27) Friday before a narrow loss to the host-Tigers Saturday. Senior guard Ryan Kaleikini led UHS with 16 points against McKinley and is big enough at 6-1 to post up defenders, but versatile enough to help with ball handling on the perimeter. Senior point guard Anthony Canencia had 11 points, four assists and two steals Saturday and is the best ball-hander on the team. He displayed good decision making by taking it to the hoop on occassion and penetrating and kicking it out to open shooters when the McKinley defense closed in on him. Micah Kahumoku took advantage of the smaller Tigers with a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with seven points and two steals.

FARRINGTON — The Govs (3-1) are considered by as many the top team early in the OIA and went toe-to-toe with Punahou Saturday afternoon in the title game of the 15th Annual Jim Alegre Invitational at Radford. Senior guard Jacob McEnroe should be considered among the top players in the state. McEnroe is tall (6-3), but athletic and can finish with both hands at the basket. He led Farrington in scoring in two of its three games with 20 points in a 58-38 win over Pearl City Thursday and nine points in the 54-42 loss to Punahou. Senior guard Isaiah Viloria had 18 points against Leilehua Friday and should help McEnroe on the offensive end. Senior forward/center Mason Semisi was part of the second unit against the Puns and displayed soft hands around the basket and a nice shooting touch, going 3 for 4 from the free-throw line.

PUNAHOU — The Buffanblu (4-0) looked like the most balanced team that I saw this weekend. Daniel Andrews provided most of the scoring over the weekend with 18 points against Kalani Thursday, 19 vs. Mid-Pacific Friday and 12 against Farrington Saturday, but Justin Kam (game-high 13 points) and Micah Maa (10 points) also scored in double-digits against the Govs. Punahou outrebounded Farrington 43 to 32, led by Andrew's 12 boards. Dayson Watanabe is the main ball-handler, but Randon Ota, Kanawai Noa and Maa also can help in that department in lieu of Jordan Tanuvasa's injury (torn ACL suffered during football season). Punahou won their first three preseason games by an average margin of 32.3 points, but trailed the Govs, 24-19, at halftime before outscoring them 35-18 in the second half to claim the Alegre title.

It's important to remember that it's still early in the preseason and many coaches aren't as concerned about winning as much as developing chemistry and depth at this point. So, while we learned a lot last weekend, there's still a lot to be gathered in the coming weeks. It should be another interesting week as we turn our attention to the OIA-ILH Challenge at Moanalua this week. Among the games I'm looking forward to are Friday's night's late games: Maryknoll-Farrington and Kamehameha-Moanalua. If you can't make it to Salt Lake, not to worry. We got you covered; both games will be live streamed on ScoringLive.com.