LAHAINA, Hawaii — Through it all, the Lahaina Raptors kept on coming.

When the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires destroyed so many homes in the historic West Maui town, several of them belonged to families of players on a youth basketball team.

The Raptors, who compete in a Maui 4-on-4, 6-and-under league, would practice regularly at the Lahaina Civic Center — up until the point it became a federal disaster relief center in the immediate aftermath of the fires.

“The majority of kids did lose their homes, so basketball was what kept us together,” coach Daniel Sykes told Spectrum News outside the Lahaina Civic Center on Monday, following Michigan State's 72-56 win over Colorado in the opening round of the Maui Invitational.

Sykes, of Lahaina, would take a portable 8-foot hoop and strap it to the 10-foot basket at Napili Park, near Kapalua.

“We practiced even though we didn’t have season, every Monday, every Wednesday, the entire time when everything was closed,” Sykes said. “Once the Civic Center was back open (in late summer), they let us get back in and practice there.”

The fires forced two kids to relocate to Kihei, but they had help making the drive up the coast to join their teammates.

On Monday, the Raptors were welcomed back in the Civic Center for a different reason.

Maui Invitational tournament operator KemperSports donated baseline section tickets to them for the opening-round matchup between MSU and CU as the nationally televised event made its return to the Valley Isle.

They stood out in the crowd with their Lahaina-red shirts.

“Oh my goodness, it was everything,” Sykes said. “One of (the kids) said they couldn’t sleep last night — it was better than Christmas. They were very pumped. I was out there coaching them the whole time, telling them to ‘look at screens, look at this.’ So it was our practice for today.”

The players enjoyed seeing college athletes make shots on the same hoops they practiced on, he said. During the second half, the team was presented with a game ball.

“They were pumped,” Sykes said. “We’re definitely going to be using that in practice. They were very excited.”

Sykes’ business, The Snorkel Store, was a tournament sponsor for several years before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the tournament to the mainland in 2020.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.