The new year graced the University of Hawaii at Hilo basketball programs with fresh looks at seasons that started off heading in the wrong direction.
“It’s good to see these kids get some rewards for their efforts,” men’s basketball coach GE Coleman said after the Vulcans returned home Sunday night following their first victory of the season, an 88-85 Pacific West Conference road win at Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday night. “Our kids have been invested in the approach the whole time, but their confidence had to be shaken because there was so much stacked against them.
“A road win can help a lot of things,” Coleman said. “I’m really proud of how these guys battle and how they’ve been able to follow our mantra to stay in the moment, stay in the present and keep that focus on every possession.”
Women’s basketball coach David Kaneshiro watched his team win, 68-65 at Concordia, the first victory of the new year, following their first win of the season just before the Christmas break when they defeated BYU-Hawaii.
“Things started coming together a little more,” Kaneshiro said of the BYU-Hawaii win, “and it could be a bit of a carryover effect. People have been buying in to the work ethic we need in practice, the attention to detail and those things showed through.”
Kaneshiro has a roster packed with first-year Vulcans and their takeoff was no doubt slowed by the absence of junior point guard Alexa Jacobs who missed all preseason and has played in just five games after a torn anterior cruciate ligament that didn’t allow her to practice until last month. A team leader, Jacobs has played in five games, building up her strength and stamina with 20-25 minutes a game.
“It’s definitely a boost having her back,” Kaneshiro said, “but we can’t push too hard, she’s still basically working herself into shape.”
The Vulcans’ women are 2-8, but 2-3 in conference play with a chance to cause some trouble with the next five games at home.
Coleman’s squad is 1-9 and 1-5 in conference play after losing last year’s top returning player, Tre Johnson, who signed a professional contract overseas, and they have also had to go without two others kept out of the regular rotation with injuries and, for all but the last three games, they were without Salim Gloyd, at 6-foot-6, their tallest active player.
Gloyd was academically cleared to play this month and in three games he has averaged 32 minutes and 20.3 points per game, including a 53 percent effort from 3-point range (9-of-17), which gives the Vulcans two outside threats. Junior Parker Farris has made 30 of 74 attempts (40 percent), from behind the arc. With Gloyd available, the opportunity for one of those two to be open should increase.
The roster should be boosted in another couple weeks when 6-6 Darius Johnson-Wilson recovers from a meniscus procedure he had last week.
The Vulcans start their home stand Thursday against Academy of Arts, with the women’s game scheduled for 5 p.m., followed by the men.
