This NAIA Tournament Is Special for Westmont’s Kammerers

In 16 seasons as men’s basketball coach at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Chet Kammerer has taken teams to the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament on five occasions.

But Kammerer says there is no doubt that the team’s latest appearance in the 32-team NAIA tournament, starting with a first-round game against Emporia State of Kansas on Wednesday night at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, will go down as most memorable to him.

That’s because it will also mark the end of the college career for his son, Chad, who starts at point guard for the Warriors.

“That’s what makes this one special,” Kammerer said. “I don’t care what anybody says, there’s just something unique about having your own family playing for you.”

Kammerer’s son has accompanied him on his four previous trips to the NAIA tournament, including the team’s last appearance in the nationals in a first-round loss to Wisconsin Eau Claire in 1988.

Four other seniors were also on the squad in 1988--forwards Noel Matthews and Jon Walker, center Chris Hahs and guard Peter Partain--although Kammerer was the only one to get even brief playing time.

“I like these five seniors,” Kammerer said. “They’re not only good players, they’re good students and they epitomize what student-athletes are supposed to be. I’m happy for all of them.”

Even if his son weren’t on the squad, Kammerer says the thought of playing in the national tournament would be pretty exciting.

“In the NCAA, I think everyone dreams of going to the Final Four, but in the NAIA, everyone’s dream is to get to the NAIA nationals,” he said. “For a lot of programs, it doesn’t mean as much because they’re there every year. But for the rest of us, it’s something special.”

Early in the season, Westmont’s hope of reaching the national tournament did not appear too bright, since Partain was recuperating from a preseason knee operation that forced him to miss the first five games of the season.

“He’s our best player and he’s been injured all year and, quite frankly, he isn’t very healthy right now,” Kammerer said.

Kammerer said he has also been concerned about the erratic play of his team.

“Early in the year, I thought we had a chance to get this far but we’ve just had a lot of highs and lows,” he said. “We didn’t even win our conference. We had a hard time putting back-to-back wins together. Even going into the district tournament, I didn’t know how well we would do. I just didn’t think we could sustain our play long enough throughout the season to get through the district.”

In recent games, though, Kammerer said he has seen a change for the better in his team.

“We’ve played well when we’ve had to and that’s most important,” he said. “We’ve won five in a row and that’s not a lot for a team that’s in the nationals but that’s our longest streak of the year.”

The Warriors (21-9) might have played their best game of the season in a 68-59 victory last week over longtime rival Biola in the District 3 title game. Westmont was sparked by the coach’s son, who scored a game-high 25 points, 20 in the second half.

“That was probably the best half of basketball that he’s ever had and for him it’s like a dream come true,” Kammerer said. “This is everything that he wanted.”

Emporia State (18-13) has won seven games in a row. Emporia also has size in its front line, led by 6-11 senior center Howard Bonser. The team’s scoring leader is 6-3 forward Eddie Williams, who averages 18 points.

“They actually have the worst record of any team in the tournament, but their record is a little deceiving,” Kammerer said. “They have dual membership in NCAA Division II and they play a very strong schedule. We’re also playing in prime time in their backyard and there’s going to be a big crowd there, so we’ll have our hands full.”

Kammerer isn’t inclined to look too far ahead, especially considering that the last time his team advanced beyond the opening round was in 1984, when it reached the semifinals.

“Once you get to this level, you can’t look past your next game,” he said. “We’ve lost the last two times in the first round so we know all about that. We’d like to do as well as we can and represent the district well, but obviously we’re only thinking about Emporia State right now.”

Cal Poly Pomona will be in a familiar position when it competes in NCAA Division II quarterfinals in women’s basketball against Southeast Missouri State on Saturday night in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

It will mark the seventh consecutive season the Broncos have reached the quarterfinals. However, it will be the first time in six seasons that the team will be playing a quarterfinal game outside Pomona, and that could pose problems for the Broncos.

The 15th-ranked Broncos (22-8) will face a Southeast Missouri team (29-3) which is ranked No. 10 and scored a 71-70 upset over top-ranked West Texas State in the South Central Regional final last week.

Cal State Bakersfield is top-seeded for the NCAA Division II Men’s West Regional on Friday and Saturday in Bakersfield.

The Roadrunners (22-7) finished second in Division II last season. They take on California Collegiate Athletic Assn. rival UC Riverside, and Alaska Anchorage will play Cal State Chico in the other first-round game.

The regional winner advances to the elite eight tournament March 21-23 in Springfield, Mass.

College Division Notes

Terry Layton, who coached Azusa Pacific to a 42-50 record the past three seasons, has resigned as men’s basketball coach. Layton’s best season was 1989-90, when the Cougars went 18-13--their first winning season since 1981-82. The team was 12-18 this season.

Cal State San Bernardino has named Kim Holder its women’s volleyball coach for next season. Holder, 28, was an assistant coach at UC Riverside last season and was also coach at Rubidoux High for three seasons. She also played at Riverside for four seasons and was on the team thatwon the NCAA Division II title in 1982.