It was fitting that all the best players on the UH-Hilo basketball teams took home All-PacWest awards on Wednesday.
The shoe fit perfectly when Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones was named Newcomer of the Year, Jordan Graves was tabbed as the Defender of the Year. Both were selected to the PacWest All-Hawaii pod team, along with Darren Williams and Sasa Vuksanovic by the conference coaches.
Tait-Jones, a freshman from New Zealand led the Vulcans with 16.5 points and was second with 8.5 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-6 forward shot 50 percent from the field and had a team-high 14 blocks.
Graves had 22 steals, and two years ago was second in the conference with 60 steals.
UHH coach Kaniela Aiona hit the nail on the head when talking about their contributions.
“Aniwa was a matchup problem and showed the ability to take over games on both ends of the court. He has a very bright future here at UH-Hilo,” he said on the school’s website. “Jordan was able to dominate several defensive matchups this season and was one of the toughest guys to score on in the conference.”
UHH finished 10-2 in its pod, falling short of regionals.
Williams averaged 14.4 ppg and led UHH with 26 3-pointers, 83% free-throw shooting, 25 steals, and 37 assists.
Vuksanovic averaged 15.8 points and a team-best 9.6 rebounds per game. He had seven double-doubles in 12 games and shot 52% from the field.
“Darren was a catalyst. He was our floor general and showed he can consistently score, distribute and defend at a high level,” Aiona said. “Sasa was a consistent contributor and gave us a presence inside that our opponents had to adjust to.”
Point Loma’s Kaden Anderson was named the PacWest player of the year. He averaged 19.1 points per game and led the Sea Lions to an 8-2 record and a berth in the West Regional.
Biola’s Dave Holmquist was the Coach of the Year and led his team, picked to finish in the bottom of the SoCal pod, to a 9-2 record and West Regional berth.
For the women, UHH senior Kim Schmelz and junior Mandi Kawaha were named to the All-PacWest pod team.
Schmelz compiled 1,041 points, second on the all-time UHH list, and averaged 12.5 points, fifth in the career books.
Kawaha averaged 12 points a game and led the way with 17 steals and 51 assists.
HPU’s Amy Baum repeated as the player of the year and her coach Reid Takatsuka was named Coach of the Year.