Sometimes being a good team is not good enough. You also have to be good at praying that others lose. Seasiders enjoying role
of unlikely regional hostBy Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.com
The Brigham Young-Hawaii and Hawaii-Hilo basketball teams had their hopes realized when they were invited to the NCAA's West Regional yesterday, with the Seasiders earning the right to host and the Vulcans jumping from out of the mix into the sixth seed in the past week.
Friday Regional schedule
All games at Cannon Activities Center in Laie
>> Hawaii-Hilo vs. Humboldt State, noon
>> Alaska-Fairbanks vs. Cal Poly Pomona, 2:30 p.m.
>> Cal State San Bernardino vs. Sonoma State, 6 p.m.
>> Brigham Young-Hawaii vs. Cal State-Bakersfield, 8:30 p.m.
"We were fortunate," BYUH coach Ken Wagner said. "We didn't control our destiny the way we wanted, but things worked out the way we wanted. Now I can turn my attention to basketball."
The eight-team tournament begins Friday at noon at the Cannon Activities Center in Laie when Hilo takes on third-seeded Humboldt State (22-5). That game will be followed by second seed Cal State San Bernardino (21-6) against seventh seed Sonoma State (18-9) at 2:30 p.m. and fourth seed Cal Poly Pomona (20-7) taking on fifth seed Alaska-Fairbanks (20-7) at 6 p.m.
Then the Seasiders host Cal State Bakersfield (19-8) at 8:30 p.m., hoping to win the first of three games that will put them into the NCAA Division II Elite Eight at Lakeland, Fla., March 26, 27 and 29.
The semifinals are Saturday at 5 and 7:30 p.m., with the finals on Monday at 7 p.m.
The Seasiders and Vulcans appeared on the outside looking in as late as last week, when they were in the unfortunate position of hoping other teams lose. The Seasiders were ranked second in the region and needed to sweep two games from Chaminade and hope that Cal State San Bernardino lost one of its two remaining games. The Seasiders swept Chaminade to earn an automatic berth into the tournament as the Pacific West champion.
But getting into the tournament wasn't the hard part. Hosting it was, considering the cost involved to the teams traveling to Hawaii.
"In a way it surprised us," senior guard Jeremy Frampton said. "It is so far away that I didn't think they would want to come all this way, but we kind of gave them no choice. They had to do the right thing."
The Seasiders own the nation's fifth-longest home winning streak, and were fighting with Cal State San Bernardino, which holds the nation's second-longest home mark, for the right to host. Humboldt State was also considered to host, and it held the nation's longest home run earlier this year.
As important as it is, hosting may be the second-most important news coming out of Laie.
Seasiders' center Scott Salisbury has been cleared to play beginning Friday after missing BYUH's last seven games with a fractured larynx. He was averaging 15.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game before he went down. The injury healed on its own while the Seasiders fought for home-court advantage.
Hilo didn't care where the dance was held, even reserving hotels at each of the possible sites, as long as the Vulcans were invited.
They were ranked 10th in the region a week ago, but swept Hawaii Pacific on Oahu to leap over Chico State (18-9) and Seattle Pacific (16-11), which were ranked sixth but lost to Central Washington while the Vulcans were beating the Sea Warriors. Chico State won its last seven games, but was hurt by a loss to an NAIA school during the season.
"I was stressing out," Hilo junior forward Ryan Abrahams said. "We were all celebrating after winning at HPU, then we heard all of the mixed stories that we are not going, then we might be going. What is the truth? I'll believe it when I get there."
It is the first time the Vulcans will participate in the regional, and first in any regional since earning an at-large berth to the NAIA tournament in 1994.
It is also confirmation that what Jeff Law has been doing with the program in his four years as head coach is working. He took over a 10-17 team and built it up to this point. He just hopes this isn't where it ends for his bunch, who are all in new territory now.
"It is important for the program," Law said. "We have been going in this direction for a while, but until you see it you don't believe it.
"If you are a carpenter you can see what you do every day. You see the foundation poured, then you see the walls go up. This is one form for us to see that all this hard work is paying off and our philosophy works. But it's not only about Jeff Law's philosophy, it is about the community and I want to make sure everyone realizes that. That is the way it has to be in Hilo."
The Vulcans were the last team to beat the Seasiders in Laie, doing so to open the conference season in January last year. Hilo and BYUH are on opposite sides of the bracket, meaning that they can't meet until the championship game Monday if they both make it that far. Not that either team is looking ahead.
"We have to shake off all of the joy and get back to practicing," Law said. "None of us have ever really been a part of something like this on this level, it is our biggest challenge to date."
UH-Hilo Athletics
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