Upward mobility in the Pacific West Conference is on the minds of the UH-Hilo men’s basketball team, a quick about face for a team wondering this time last week when it might win a game.
That detail was accomplished last Saturday at Point Loma Nazarene and Thursday, when the Vulcans open a five-game homestand, they have an opportunity to climb up a few rungs on the Pac-West ladder.
In town for the game at Hilo Civic is Academy of Art, struggling as well with a 2-5 conference record and 4-9 overall, but the Urban Knights come to the Big Island having lost four consecutive games. A win by UH-Hilo, accompanied with a loss by Holy Names (2-5, 3-12) against conference power California Baptist (5-1, 14-3), would lift the Vulcans from 13th — next to last — to 11th in the Pac-West.
Hey, you take upward mobility where you can get it. Academy of Art was up 20, at home, on Point Loma before losing 71-64 a week ago.
“Everything looks a little better after a win,” said Vulcans coach GE Coleman, “the confidence level is up a bit when you get over that hump.”
UH-Hilo has been bolstered by Salim Gloyd, a 6-foot-6 wing player from Ballard High School in Seattle. Gloyd became eligible on the recent Southern California three-game road trip in which he averaged 20.3 points per game and gave the offense a second deep scoring threat to go with junior Farris Parker, but many issues remain for the improvement to be constant in the second half of the season.
It starts at the defensive end where the undersized Vulcans rank 295th of the 350 ranked Division II schools, with just 22.8 defensive rebounds per game.
“Our (lack of) size comes into play when it gets to inside presence and protecting the rim,” Coleman said. “If you get a stop in this conference, you better get the rebound, and that’s been our issue. We can get overwhelmed with size in there and when one missed (opponent’s) shot becomes two or three rebounds and more shots, we just can’t keep ourselves in the game when that happens.”
It’s a different story for coach David Kaneshiro’s women’s team, ninth place in the Pac-West with a 2-3 record to go with a 2-8 record overall. The women’s team is also lacking size, and is also short on experience in the conference, but unlike the men’s team, the Academy of Art women’s team is 7-0, leading the conference with the hottest record, having won all seven of those games in a row after a 5-5 non-conference start to the season.
Of the 300 women’s Division II teams, UH Hilo is 295th in defensive rebounding (21.0 per game), and 294th (8.0), in offensive rebounding.
“It’s a big challenge for us,” Kaneshiro said of the Urban Knights, “first place in our conference pretty much speaks for itself. We’ve won a couple games now, we have Alexa (Jacobs, junior point guard), back so there’s some confidence growing, but at the same time, (Jacobs), isn’t at full strength, she’s playing herself back from an ACL tear and we still have a lot of youth.
“We really need to see improvement in our defensive rebounding,” he said, “and we have made some strides. Our first shot defense has improved — we are allowing a lower percentage than at the start of the season — but we still give up too many second and sometimes third shots.”
Freshman Kim Schmelz form Rancho Murieta, Calif., has provided a boost for the Vulcans with her shooting. She ranks fourth in the conference in free throw percentage (.829), and is just outside the top 20 in 3-point shots made (14), with eight of her long range baskets coming in the last five games.
“We knew she could shoot the ball,” Kaneshiro said, “but there’s always that adjustment period from high school; she’s very poised, she has no fear and you just want to see her keep improving.”
The women play at 5 p.m., the men’s game follows.
