Monday Morning MIL: Seabury Hall boys basketball team leaves no doubt on way to D-II state championship

Four years ago, Bromo Dorn and his family made the decision to send the young basketball standout to Seabury Hall over King Kekaulike High School where most of his childhood friends were going.

It was a sacrifice for Dorn but a decision that paid off in his final season playing basketball for the Spartans, who won the school’s first first state title in the sport Friday night in a 49-33 win over Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy in the Hawai‘i Pacific Health/HHSAA Division II championship game at the SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Dorn, a 6-foot-6 senior guard, scored 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds, had two assists, three steals and no turnovers in the title tilt. In the Spartans’ three games in the tournament, Dorn scored 66 points, hauled in 21 rebounds, dished out five assists and had eight steals.

He was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player as voted on by media covering the event and HHSAA officials after playing 93 of 96 total minutes in the Spartans’ three wins.

Seabury Hall head coach Scott Prather had a one-word answer when asked what Dorn meant to the Spartans’ program and state title run: “Everything.”

Prather paused, then added, “Everything, top to bottom, not just talent, but he’s a great leader, great example, pushes teammates, but always picks them up. He challenges them, he makes them better, makes me better as a coach. He’s been everything to this program, everything I could ever ask for. I consider him to be not just the best player in the state, but the best player to ever come through the (Maui Interscholastic League). You don’t replace a guy like that, you just appreciate the time you had with him.”

In 17 Seabury Hall games with full statistics reported to ScoringLive, Dorn was the fourth-leading scorer in the state, regardless of division, at 25.5 points per game, and he made a state-best 43 3-pointers.

The determination and drive of this group that says goodbye to six seniors, four of whom start, began nearly immediately after a 49-45 loss to Kohala in last season’s D-II state championship game. They responded this season by rolling up a 28-4 overall record — their only losses were to three California schools and Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I powerhouse ‘Iolani.

“The team, they were laser-focused, they were on a mission, unfinished business from last year — they approached this season with ultra focus, energy and effort from Day 1,” Prather said. “From the offseason, they were just working and grinding through and they were not going to be denied.”

All 28 wins were by double-figures, the closest being a 59-49 win over Kohala in the state semifinals.

“Kohala was close, but we wanted it more, we wanted it more than them this year,” Prather said. “Second place last year was the underlying, driving factor. These guys love to hoop and they love their teammates, but they wanted it from the get-go. They remember the pain and the sadness from last year and they were not going to go through that again. This was their year.”

Prather had a standout career at Maui High School before going on to a stellar career at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo — he was inducted into UH-Hilo Hall of Fame in 2012. Dorn was touched by the high praise from his coach.

“It’s amazing, coach Prather, ever since my freshman year he has been always supporting me, always believed in me,” Dorn said. “I mean, I couldn’t ask for a better coach to lead the way and be a mentor for these past four years. He was a great player himself, so I’ve learned a lot from him over these four years and just to hear that from him just feels amazing, for sure.”

Along with Dorn, the Spartans lose starters Jack Bendon, Soren Moog and Keahi Sjostrand. Starting point guard Sebastian Peterson, who was named to the state all-tournament team with Dorn, returns next season as a senior — Peterson had 32 points in a 75-59 win over Kaiser in the state quarterfinals and finished the tournament with 69 points in three games.

The Seabury Hall starters combined to play 425 out of 480 total minutes at the state tournament. The Spartans are just fourth MIL boys basketball team to win a state title, joining Maui Prep from 2022 in Division II, Lahainaluna in 1982 in Divsion A and St. Anthony in 1977 in Division A.

“Last year was just heartbreaking, but me and my team, we just went out and left it all out there,” Dorn said. “A lot of us seniors, we just left it out there on the court. Everybody, Keahi, Bas, Soren, Nobu (Shing), Jack, everyone else on the bench, I wouldn’t have wanted to win with any other team. Everything was drawn up perfectly for us to win this year and we got it done. I love my coaches, I love my teammates, this is the perfect team to win it.”

The other Spartans to put gold medals around their necks on Friday night included Miles Rappenecker, Nobu Shing, Aidan Childers, Elijah Gurley, Dylan Maier, Cian O’Dwyer, Cash Driftmier, Carson Rosenthal, Bryson Tasaki, Carson Hollifield, Reagan Aguas and Duke Dodge.

Prather also passed out credit to his assistant coaches John Dudley, Kaleb Palmer, Justin Farmer, Neil Yashiro and Gerrit Peterson. Another name Prather was quick to credit was Bill Naylor, his coach at Maui High during his career there.

The bottom line for Dorn, who expects to make a decision on where he plans to play college basketball in April, is that he and his family made the right decision four years ago when he was coming out of Kalama Intermediate School.

“Seabury is such a tight-knit community, not too many people at our school, but everyone is so supportive,” Dorn said. “It was a big decision coming out of middle school, like where am I going to go? Either King K or Seabury? I made the sacrifice to leave a lot of my friends to go to Seabury and I don’t regret anything.”

“Monday Morning MIL” columns appear weekly on Monday mornings with updates on local sports in the Maui Interscholastic League and elsewhere around Maui County. Please send column ideas — anything having to do with sports in Maui County — as well as results and photos to rob@hjinow.org.