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There was no need for muffled voices to keep from waking the neighbors in the early morning hours with excited utterances. Read more

There was no need for muffled voices to keep from waking the neighbors in the early morning hours with excited utterances.

No need to squint at a video screen while trying to follow the action 7,027 miles distant from the Stan Sheriff Center in Madona, Latvia.

This time Edmunds and Iveta Raimo were at courtside for the first time in their lives, seated directly behind the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team’s bench, and could jump and shout to their joy with the rest of the partisans in a crowd of 1,728 on Christmas Day.

And their son, junior forward Zigmars, gave them plenty to delight in on their 26th wedding anniversary, scoring a career-high and game-high 19 points in the Rainbow Warriors’ 68-60 victory over Rhode Island for fifth place in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.

“We were really excited to see him in person for the first time and not at 4 a.m. or the middle of the night,” Iveta said as her husband, in a UH shirt, nodded in agreement. “It was so amazing to be able to see and recognize all the players,” she said.

For their son, a 6-foot-8 finance major, “it brought back memories of my childhood when they would come to all my games and I was so proud to see them supporting me,” Zigmars said. “Every time I looked over at our bench I saw them.

“When I saw them there I could smile and have a lot of extra energy. I am never tired, I just want to keep going” in playing 35 of the 40 minutes.

Zigmars scored six of the ’Bows’ first eight points, weighed in at key junctures with 8-of-12 field-goal shooting and six rebounds, two assists and a steal to help UH to its best finish in the hometown tournament in three years and an overall 8-5 record.

The trip is something the Raimo family had said it talked about since seeing their son leave home for UH three years ago. They had attended all his games, beginning in the third grade, but there had been just a few opportunities to see him in high school as he had gone off the the Baltic nation’s capital in Riga, more than two hours away, before coming to Hawaii.

“So this is something that I was looking forward to for a long time,” Zigmars said. “But it is a long trip (40 hours) and very expensive from our country, so it isn’t easy. They’ve been saving and planning for more than a year to come here.”

When his parents arrived, Zigmars said they brought a Latvia Christmas with them, including rosols, a potato salad that he said is especially prized on important family occasions.

“It was incredibly good and made me very happy,” he said.

Zigmars, despite frequently being double-teamed inside, dominated down low.

His most memorable play, however, was a mid-air grab of a long pass from Drew Buggs and a still-airborne flip to Eddie Stansberry who laid in the shot, drew a foul and made the free throw.

That gave UH a 46-44 lead with 9 minutes, 45 seconds remaining.

“Is there anything better than being with your family on Christmas?” head coach Eran Ganot said, noting that players had their parents also come from Australia and the mainland for the tournament.

“I’m sure he made them proud,” Ganot said of Zigmars.

“I know it was the best Christmas present for me,” Zigmars said.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.