CHAMINADE BASKETBALL
Rolling Reaves helps Chaminade beat Alaska Anchorage in tournament debut
The EA Sports Maui Classic's whipping boy is dealing out its own punishment.
Chris Reaves scored 32 points to help Chaminade beat Alaska-Anchorage 84-67 yesterday in Seattle in its first NCAA Division II tournament game.
The Silverswords (19-8) will take on Western Washington today with a berth in the regional final on the line. The winner of that game advances to the Elite Eight, March 22-25, at Springfield, Mass. Western Washington, the second seed, eliminated Humboldt State 100-86 yesterday.
"There's no doubt (Reaves) can keep this up," Chaminade first-year coach Matt Mahar said. "If the people in Maui can't stop him, I don't think somebody here can stop him. If Chris is not mentally ready, he is the only one who can stop himself."
Reaves had plenty of help on both ends of the floor. Point guard Zack Whiting scored 11 points and dished out 12 assists, while center Marko Kolaric came off the bench to score 14 points and grab 14 rebounds. The difference in the game was as simple as Chaminade's top gun against Alaska Anchorage's.
Seawolves leading scorer Kemmy Burgess was held to 12 points after averaging 21.4 in the regular season.
"We had two different guys (Dylan McCune and Whiting) taking turns on him," Mahar said. "We knew he was their team and we wanted to force him to his left the minute he got the ball and the guys really brought the intensity."
The Silverswords know all about intensity. They begin each season competing in the Maui Classic, a Division I tournament that is considered among the finest in the game.
Reaves lit up Texas for 33 points in his debut for the school two years ago and managed 18 against Michigan State to begin this season. He hit a lull during conference play this year, but found his stroke just in time for a run to a title.
"We feel like we have been here before," Mahar said. "Our guys are mostly seniors and they know the intensity it takes to play on Maui, so we have been working on nothing but finding our shooting stroke since we arrived here. The guys can take care of everything else, we just didn't want to go cold."
Smylie honored: Brigham Young University-Hawaii senior Austin Smylie was named to the Daktronics All-West Region basketball team yesterday. Smylie, who averaged 22.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, was joined on the team by Grant Dykstra of Western Washington, Tony Binetti of Seattle Pacific, Ryan Diggs of Western Washington and J.T. Tipton of Sonoma State.
Reaves and Whiting were named to the second team.