Hot summer night for new Warriors Spearman and Fotu
Defense and summer league basketball. It sounds a little like an oxymoron, but that wasn’t the case Saturday night at Manoa Recreation Center gym.
Former ‘Iolani and Washington State star Derrick Low got up-close and personal with high-scoring Hauns Brereton, helping Solar Universe hold off Central Medical Clinic, 109-104, in the 36th annual College Summer League.
While it sounds ludicrous to say defense played a key in a game in which 213 points were scored, it was hard to overlook or underplay the attention Solar paid to Brereton, who entered the game with a 45.5 scoring average in Summer League games.
Low locked down on the 6-foot-5 University of Hawai’i senior, getting help from fellow guards Brandon Spearman and Rashaun Broadus, to hold Brereton to 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting.
Brereton, who scored 44 and 47 in his previous two games, had to work hard and be creative just to get off a shot. He was 1 of 6 from 3-point range, after hitting 6 of 10 on Thursday night in a win over Grantco Pacific. He added five rebounds.
Low still found the energy to direct the offense for Solar (3-4), finishing with 24 points.
Spearman, who is transferring to UH from Indian Hills Community College in Iowa, led Solar with 29 points. The 6-foot-2 junior was 11 of 20 from the field, scoring on explosive drives to the basket and sinking 3 of 8 3-pointers. He added seven rebounds, two assists and one block.
Dyrbe Enos, who will walk-on to the Warrior squad, and UH graduate assistant Nick Milan played sparingly and did not score for Solar.
Jace Tavita, expected to challenge for the starting point guard position at UH, and former ‘Iolani standout Kyle Pape led a late rally for Central (3-3), which trailed by 18 points with 11 minutes to play.
Six minutes later, Brereton was fouled on a 3-point attempt and sank three free throws to cut Solar’s lead to 100-90. Then Tavita got hot – hitting three successive 3-pointers and two free throws off an intentional foul as Central closed to 107-101 with 2:24 remaining.
Pape, who played a strong all-around game and led all scorers with 35 points, hit a deep 3-pointer to make it 107-104 with 43 seconds left. After Solar couldn’t convert on its possession, Pape unleashed another 3-point attempt. This time he barely missed.
Spearman was fouled on the rebound with 4.5 seconds left, and capped the scoring with two free throws.
Tavita hit 6 of 13 3-point attempts and finished with 20 points, six assists and four rebounds.
The first game saw a matchup of incoming freshman post players for the Warriors, with 6-foot-9 Isaac Fotu getting the best of 6-10 Caleb Dressler in National Fire Protection’s 109-89 victory over Grantco Pacific.
Fotu was near perfection, using his quickness and array of spin moves to score on layup after layup. He finished with a game-high 26 points on 11-of-12 shooting, including a pair of 15-foot jumpers, and didn’t miss from the field until he couldn’t convert in traffic under the basket with 6:55 left in the game.
Fotu hit 4 of 8 free throws, and added 11 rebounds and two blocks as Fire improved to 3-3.
Dressler had five points on 2-of-5 shooting and six rebounds for Grantco, which played without former UH standout Julian Sensley and suffered its third straight loss to fall to 4-3.
Michael Harper, a freshman guard who will walk-on to the UH team, had a stellar game for Grantco. He tied Fotu for game honors with 26 points, sinking 11 of 21 shots, including 4 of 11 from 3-point range.
(Sorry, no video from Saturday’s games)
Photos by Brandon Flores/www.brandonfloresphotography.com. To view more photos from Saturday’s games, please visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/WarriorInsider.
Wow..we know only summer league, the guys Hauns, Jace, Isaac , Spearman, and Harper, and Dressler will come along..that is a lot of potential..something to build on, not for next year..for this coming year!! Guys are not half okole, they are playing hard,,,Wow! Great job UH MBB team , keep working hard, you guys can be successful this year, and we still haven’t seen Manroop and Jawato yet..as well as Vander and Davis returning..Great job guys, awesome!!
And of course Isaac Fotu!! Terrific game, he is getting into shape, can be a real factor this year!! Great job Isaac..it just seems to me, FWIW, these guys have something to prove to the fans and Hawaii, they can be a good team!!
Good job! And as always Dayton and warriorinsider for great writeup!
Thanks WI Staff !
Good to see more Warriors making an impact…
Expecting to make a difference in the game, or the league is a good mindset;
Executing the skills they’ve worked to their team’s advantage is just good use of the summer league…
Getting it done game time locks in those skills in muscle and mind memory– winners expect to come through…
Practicing Success Begets Success…and Higher Self-Expectation…
Perfect Practice makes Perfect…
…and challenges by Low, Sensley when available, and other grads/pros are good D-1 prep…
hey royal and not-so-royal/true TEAM fans,
make it a point to the games on Thu.
let see if the TRADE is worthy:
Roopi & Jaw for Stoke & Mile??
Thank you for the great summer league updates. Despite the big numbers I’m not overly optimistic that it will translate into the season for all of the players. Our front line looks like the strong part of the team but without great guard play to get them the ball in the right spots they won’t be effective. Hoping that Tavita or Roop really steps up to take over the lead guard role. It’s a guard oriented game now days and it seems like that is our weak spot.
It’s odd that in the past we seemed to be a guard oriented team: Henderson, Wilson, Gaines, Carter, Smith, Ruffin, Lott, Dickerson, English, Savovich, Kuebler, etc. Nowadays it seems every school in the country place guards at the front of their recruiting lists. If the Hawaii MBB program wants to be a top 25 team and stay there, they will need to return to those guard oriented days of the past. We need to recruit NBA caliber talent such as Henderson and Carter. I know that day will come if the program continues to improve and I see this year’s team a step in the right direction. Why? I think the team has something that we have not had in a long time; not only do we have talent, we have disciplined, hard-working, teachable, and hungry players. It’s one thing to recruit talent, it’s another to recruit talent and attitude. Granted, the Summer League might be just that—a practice league. But don’t let the title fool you. If you never came to any of the games you don’t know how hard everyone is working at their game and the intensity level to win. Indeed, all games should be played this way.
Agreed servante: in past UH had good to great guards,,the bigs not that great, Bob Nash(good), Al Davis pretty good(great rebounder, defender and shooter), Reggie Cross, Tom Barker, Troy Ostler, Melton Werts, Jimmy Baker, Ahmet Gueye, etc..but good at times..Now we don’t know until season in midform, how Jace and, Spearman, Manroop, and Dyrbe maybe Michael Harper might do at the point..However nowadays game much different from 30 or 40 years ago..a combo guard like Rondo, or Wade,or Derrick Rose exceptional athletes, handle the ball, pass and shoot, defend rebound dive on the floor, see the floor..seems like that is the direction FWIW(my opinion only) that Gib and staff, and a lot of other MBB programs are going, just GOOD guards who play within system and take care of ball..Would be neat if Gib still signed another supe SF late get..just my opinion, that seems to be , possibly the weak link on the roster, the explosive SF, and maybe , you might be right, if euro, jc 3 for 3, maybe Gib has a ball handling pass first mature team leader point out there!! Servante,what is neat, here it is nearing Aug , and we still talking up uH MBB hoops..gotta love it!!
we still need to find a point guard.
Well….maybe a Point Guard AND an athletic SF! That would be a nice cap to recruiting for this year! We have to wait Al, Gib is recruiting for 2013 -2014, and maybe, if he sees a late get out there in the showcase tourneys at Las Vegas or througout the country and global connections, euro etc..maybe, mabye Gib and staff get one or two athletes to end recruiting year, I know he keeps open the scholie, just for that scenario..if a fit o fits appear, they will offer..if not, well wait till next year..or who knows, offer to a scholie worthy young man this year!!
We need a PG much more than a SF. This might be harsh but there is a reason Harper and Enos were not recruited as scholarship athletes. They may grow into that type of player but right now they are not contributors. Roop seems to be more of a shooter than a pure PG and Spearman is more of a combo guard so again not a true PG. Tavita is the only one on the roster with Div 1 PG experience. I like his game but I’m not sure he will be able to keep up with quicker and more athletic guards. A JC PG would be a nice get if we can find the right one. It will take pressure off first year players Roop and Spearman and will spell Tavita. It’s tough for any PG to excel their first year when they need to learn a new system unless they just have major athletic ability.
Pono, I agree with your and al’s views on a first rate point guard, not sure why Gib did not go full bore past two years on getting a couple of solid, don’t have to be McDonald’s AA’s ..sure we know, the Mark Campbells, Troy Bowes, Tom Louden’s, Aaron Strayhorns, Kalia McGee, ..really vital to leading their teams , and of course, if you get one, just ONE AC Carter, working as a custodian, playing pickup, then AAU ball, mentor encouraged him, got GED and then JC , then UH, and then 13 yr NBA veteran, after having led one of the most exciting 2 years with AC, and gang and if AC did not get hurt, or Seth Sundberg, or Eric Ambozich..surely, two NCAA tourney invites in a row!
That is why I am not sure of the reasoning, unless Jace IS the man in Gib’s eyes, with Manroop, being groomed…and don’t count it out…with the heavy JULY recruiting period..if Gib finds a great late get , another AC or AC jr..or even a Mark Campbell type, he will get him signed..It is a no brainer, two great guards on the court can cause a lot of damage and success for UH, One great point can change the fortunes of the whole team..still , I would , it is ONlLY my opinion..guys,, a SF AND a Point would be nice..heck , if this team wins with Dyrbe Enos leading the team and goes to NCAA, better yet..! Just my opinion!!
I watched this kid Jace Tavita play… And hes a player for sure.. The troubling thing to me though just by watching the begining workout sessions is that he looks like he put on quite a bit of weight. The kid I watched was LEAN and ATHLETIC. I truly hope this kid can have an outstanding senior year but he really need to get his body back to playing shape before he experienced the nightmare that was the University of Utah. If he can shed 10-15lbs Im sure he should have no problem runing the show…