Jeremy Coloyan and the McKinley Tigers will face off against Zoar Nedd and the Kapolei Hurricanes in the nightcap of the opening day of the Black and Gold Classic Friday. ScoringLive photo illustration

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A new basketball season means news faces for the McKinley Tigers, particularly in the backcourt.

Sharpshooters Huthifah Abdel Jawad and Dan Villejo — McKinley's leading scorers from a season ago — have graduating and looking to fill that void for coach Duane Omori will be a mix of returnees and first-year players.

The Tigers bring back senior guard Jeremy Coloyan (7.8 points per game last year), junior guard Kyle Moraga (6.8 ppg) and senior center Mark Burke (5.5 ppg) — a trio that Omori will be counting on this season.

"It's hard to replace a Villejo or a Huthifah, not just for their ability to score points and shoot the ball, but their leadership was a big thing for us" Omori said. "I think with our team right now, the more we play, the more experience and reps we get, hopefully that will help us out before we get into the regular season."

In recent years McKinley has been more of a guard-oriented, perimeter team, but Omori would like to see the 6-foot-5 Burke become more of a focal part of the offense.

"For me personally, my idea is that we work to our strengths," Omori said. "I think a lot of the kids we had played more of a playground style, so we emphasized on that a lot, but throughout the course of the past year or so, we kind of realized that as much as we have that athleticism, we have to have stability and we want to be more balanced where we can play two styles of basketball."

The Tigers finished third in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I tournament last year and seventh in the state tournament. They posted an 18-11 overall record and were 11-4 in league play.

"The ball was in the hands of our experienced players a lot last year and so right now I'm trying to see how certain players handle certain situations," said Omori, whose team opened the preseason with a 57-54 loss to Mililani Saturday. "It's a developmental process right now. I think we can compete and I think if we coach well, hopefully we can put our kids in better positions to win games."

Omori's squad will get three more chances to compete this weekend when it hosts the annual Hawaii Self Storage Black and Gold Classic. McKinley will face Kapolei in the 4:30 p.m. game Friday.

The Hurricanes are coming off a 12-8 campaign last season, including a 7-4 mark in the OIA West and a first-round exit from the league tournament, but coach Gary Ellison is optimistic with what he has returning.

Junior forward Zoar Nedd (10.4 ppg last year), sophomore point guard Ja-Shon Carter (5.9 ppg) and senior guard Jayson Manapul (4.1 ppg) were starters last season.

"Zoar played the (power forward) position last year, but we'll play him at the (shooting guard) and (small forward) positions, and sometimes even the point," Ellison said of the 6-food-4 Nedd. "He's probably our most versatile player so we'll likely move him around on the court to try to get him some mismatches."

Ellison also noted the key additions of junior guards Hezekiah Del Prado and Kiernan Queen-Booker, as well as football players Marquis Montgomery and Riley Asuncion.

"Hezekiah and Kiernan were the starting guards on our JV team that won the championship last year, so they're going to be playing a lot," Ellison said. Marquis is a very athletic kid that we potentially see big things from and Riley surprised us in tryouts. He played his freshman and sophomore years at Hanalani, but couldn't play for us last year (per transfer rules). He can play a little bit."

Like Omori, Ellison isn't as concerned about winning games this early in the preseason as he is about finding a rotation and defining roles for players.

"Every coach wants to win, but we'd like to use this weekend as a teaching tool for the regular season," Ellison said. "I know what I'm going to expect, but I want the kids to show patience. We're looking to be patient and not rush. That's one thing we're going to be preaching this year: let the game come to you and don't force it."

The rest of the eight-team field is made up of Kaimuki, Campbell, University, Mililani, Kalani and Maryknoll. A full schedule of games is listed below.

McKinley/Hawaii Self Storage Black and Gold Classic
At Student Council Gymnasium, McKinley HS
Admission: $7 general, $5 students (grades K thru 12), $5 military/senior citizens (ages 62 and over)

Friday
Kaimuki vs. Campbell, Noon
University vs. Mililani, 1:30 p.m.
Kalani vs. Maryknoll, 3 p.m.
McKinley vs. Kapolei, 4:30 p.m.
McKinley vs. Kapolei (JV), 6 p.m.
Saturday
McKinley vs. Kauai (Girls JV), 10 a.m.
Campbell vs. University, Noon
Mililani vs. Kaimuki, 1:30 p.m.
Kapolei vs. Kalani, 3 p.m.
Maryknoll vs. McKinley (JV), 4:30 p.m.
Maryknoll vs. McKinley, 6 p.m.
Monday
Kaimuki vs. Maryknoll, 3:30 p.m.
Kalani vs. Mililani, 5 p.m.
University vs. Kapolei, 6:30 p.m.
McKinley vs. Campbell, 8 p.m.