Navy, White teams let 3’s fly during Gonzaga’s Kraziness in the Kennel showcase

Officially, the 3-point portion of Saturday’s Kraziness in the Kennel showcase concluded when Rasir Bolton upstaged Malachi Smith during the final round of a four-man competition, making 15-of-20 shots from five spots on the floor – including two “money ball” shots – while his fellow guard made 13.

Unofficially, the distance shooting exhibition continued when Gonzaga’s “White” and “Navy” teams took the floor for a light 15-minute scrimmage, played in front of a sellout crowd at McCarthey Athletic Center.

Drew Timme opened things up with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc, Nolan Hickman offered a quick response connecting on his first 3-pointer and the teams ultimately combined to make 9-of-23 shots from behind the arc in a scrimmage that was tied until forward Ben Gregg flipped in the winning basket with 9 seconds left to give “White” a 38-36 victory.

“We didn’t get anybody hurt, that’s the best thing for me,” 24th-year Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “This is more for the fans and for the guys to get excited. We weren’t really doing a lot of diabolical stuff out there on offense or defense.

“It was good. We played with good energy, good enthusiasm, spread it around a little bit. So yeah, it was good.”

Timme, the two-time All-American and preseason national player of the year candidate who made Gonzaga fans wait on pins and needles in June for a deadline announcement that he was returning for his fourth season, didn’t score a basket in the low post but still made 4-of-5 shots – including one 3-pointer – to lead “White” with nine points.

With 12 points from Julian Strawther and 11 points from Nolan Hickman, the “Navy” squad erased a nine-point deficit and forced a 36-all tie on Efton Reid’s dunk with 31 seconds remaining. Gregg scored underneath on a feed from Bolton and Hunter Sallis could’ve played the role of hero, but the sophomore’s last-ditch 3-point attempt clanked off the rim.

Hickman went 3 of 3 from the 3-point line and was one of six Gonzaga players to make a shot from behind the arc, along with Strawther, Timme, Smith, Gregg and Anton Watson.

Walk-on Colby Brooks and Gregg each scored eight points, and Smith scored six points, connecting on a pair of 3s. Kaden Perry, who hadn’t played for the Zags since Dec. 28 of last season due to back spasms, scored three points and grabbed two rebounds.

Aside from sophomore guard Dominick Harris, who’s expected to return to the court early next week after undergoing foot surgery last fall, and sophomore walk-on Joe Few, who injured his right arm in an intramural softball game, every Gonzaga player made it onto the floor for the short scrimmage.

“We have some guys that can shoot,” Few said. “I think Malachi, you guys will find, is a really good shooter. I think we have some guys that have worked really hard on shooting. Nolan and Hunter (Sallis) will be much-improved. Julian and Rasir can really shoot, Anton’s worked really hard at it, Drew’s worked hard at it. I’m hoping that’ll be one of our strengths, yeah.”

Bolton, who transferred to Gonzaga from Iowa State last season, claimed the 3-point crown despite a strong effort from Smith, a fellow transfer guard who signed with the Bulldogs after scoring 1,115 points in two seasons at Chattanooga. If the contest was too small a sample size, the Zags can use two exhibitions, 30 regular-season games and up to eight more in the postseason to determine the true 3-point king.

“I’m not one that’s big on talking, so if guys want to run it back, we can shoot again,” Bolton laughed. “That’s all I’m going to say.”

Before doors opened in the afternoon, a long line of fans snaked the sidewalk in front of the Kennel, stretching all the way to Gonzaga’s soccer facility. The schedule of events also included peek at the team’s 2022-23 hype video, player intros, short speeches from Few and Timme and performances from the student band, bomb squad and dance team.

Few commended Gonzaga’s one-of-a-kind atmosphere, telling the audience through a microphone, “Far and away we have the greatest home crowd in college basketball.”

Smith, who spent the past three seasons at lesser-known midmajors Chattanooga and Wright State, raved about his first in-person Kennel experience.

“It was kind of crazy. You see it on TV and you hear about it,” Smith said. “Obviously, they talk about in the locker room, but just going out there, it was something I’ve never experienced before. So it was cool.”

Harris didn’t take part in the scrimmage, but he narrowly lost to Bolton in the semifinal round of the 3-point shooting contest.

Smith defeated last year’s 3-point winner, Hickman, to advance to the final round.

Out of precaution, Gonzaga opted to forgo a dunk contest this year, but four players took part in the skills challenge. Watson was the first player eliminated, setting up a showdown between Strawther, Sallis and Huff, a four-star forward recruit and the only member of Gonzaga’s 2022 recruiting class.

After successfully weaving through four orange cones, firing a pass through a hula hoop and navigating through four more cones, Strawther stuffed a one-handed dunk, made a free throw after air-balling his initial attempt and connected on his second 3-point try to post a better time than Sallis and Huff, who were each held up at different parts of the skills course.