UH hoops mismatch leaves little buzz at the Sheriff

Rastafarians were in short supply. Maybe they were in the parking lot. Or down at Puck’s Alley.

It was Reggae Night, but they didn’t play “I Shot The Sheriff” at the Stan Sheriff Center on Tuesday.

The visiting Hilo Vulcans did shoot the lights out in the first half, hitting seven of 14 shots from 3-point range. The much taller Division I Rainbow Warriors from Manoa controlled things around the baskets, though, and led by 11 at halftime. They gradually increased the margin, and emptied the bench with more than five minutes left in an 86-67 win.

It was a mismatch typical in college basketball when teams from different divisions meet. And if you thought the winless Vulcans had a chance against the 5-1 ‘Bows? Well … perhaps you’d started celebrating Reggae Night early.

For most, though, there wasn’t a whole lot of buzz about this intrastate tussle. A lot of empty seats, including on press row … no TV. The student section looked like it was a UH football game. The turnstile count of 2,154 was the lowest in years.

“We look at it like playing a Duke or a North Carolina,” said guard Isaac Fleming, when asked how focus was maintained throughout.

As John F. Kennedy once asked somewhat famously, “Why does Rice play Texas?”

Many asked the same about this one, especially because there’s another coming up against a D-II team, Hawaii Pacific. And they count as real games, not exhibitions.

The answer on Oahu and throughout Rainbow Warrior World is because there was a coaching change and they had to fill out the schedule on short notice.

But, on Hawaii Island the answer is “Because they could.”

You can say Hilo gets more out of it than Manoa, especially since the underdog has nothing to lose in one of these. And you never know, some year …

“We’re a long way from that,” said third-year Vulcans coach GE Coleman. “But it’s good to compete.”

New athletic director Pat Guillen came over, as did the legendary Jimmy Yagi, the humble but tenacious coach who led the Vulcans in their glory days back in the 1970s.

“I was known as the short coach with the short budget,” said Yagi, as he introduced the likewise vertically challenged Coleman to a group of supporters before the game. “We finally got one my size.”

Coleman took the jab in the good spirit it was intended and tried to talk in positive terms about a team that was almost surely on its way to a loss in two hours.

“I think we play hard, I think we play unselfish.”

And then, about Manoa, “I think they have a good chance to win the Big West. It will be a good test for us.”

The Vulcans kept it from full blowout status for a while, but especially with an injury-riddled front line they had absolutely no answer for Aaron Valdes, who seems to have completely transitioned from athlete playing basketball to basketball player with athleticism.

When he deposited an alley-oop from Fleming with 15:01 left to make the lead 13 points, everyone knew the margin might as well have been 43.

“Thirty-two has hops,” said one of the kids watching from the front row.

“He scored more than his jersey,” said another when Valdes reached his final total of 33 points.

Next game, I want to see him wearing No. 99.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.