When Academy of the Pacific and University High met in the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawaii High School Athletic Association State Division II Boys Basketball Tournament Friday, their entire student bodies turned out for the morning game.

Of course, combined, they numbered fewer than 350.

When you think small school championship, you imagine, well, small schools playing for it. Like Kohala (297), Moloka'i (394) and Pahoa (761), who also helped make up the 12-team bracket.

What you don't picture is the largest public school in the state, Farrington, with an enrollment of 2,569, towering over that field.

If there was a reason to shake your head at the inaugural D-II championship — which was otherwise a huge success in its overdue debut — this is it. You can't have two of the biggest schools in the state, Farrington and McKinley (1,877 students), plopped in among schools a fraction of their enrollments and take the concept seriously for very long.

This is no knock on the schools themselves or the Tigers' performance in winning McKinley's first state basketball championship. They merely went where the blueprint put them. Rather this is a question the HHSAA and the framers of its classification system need to take another crack at during upcoming meetings.

It took swift footwork and, no doubt, some political compromises, just to finally get the D-II tournament off the drawing board, where it has been languishing, and onto the court. For the longest time it looked like it might not happen in any form. So you have to look at it like the "work in progress" that HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya terms it.

Which is probably why there weren't shrieks from coaches of the smaller schools about the apparent inequities in the pairings. Because it was the inaugural, they were undoubtedly just glad to finally have the opportunities. But in coming years that is going to change. And, so, too, should the way teams are classified.

Most states classify almost exclusively by the size of the student body and less on recent performance. Moreover, many administer the process directly so everybody is governed under one set of rules. Here, the individual leagues make the call, giving as much weight to enrollment and performance as they choose.

"Given the geographical constraints of being an island state, the current method of classification by league is the best compromise," Amemiya said. "But whatever the case may be, the overwhelming majority of our schools and fans still feel the Division II concept is one of the best things to happen in Hawai'i high school sports in a long time."

Yes, D-II was a welcome and much-needed addition to the championship lineup. And a refining of the classification formulas will assure it is allowed to realize its considerable potential.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.