TULALIP, Washington and PINE RIDGE, South Dakota, July.1, 2016 – The Jr. NBA next week tips off the first of two summer camps focused on engaging Native American youth. As part of the NBA’s youth basketball participation program for boys and girls ages 6-14, Jr. NBA camps are set for July 8-10 in Tulalip, Washington, and from July 29-31 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
The camps are designed to teach the game’s fundamental skills and core values at this grassroots level to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents.
NBA legend Detlef Schrempf and Spencer Hawes of the Charlotte Hornets – both alumni of the University of Washington – will headline the Jr. NBA camps at the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club about an hour north of Seattle. Sacramento Kings head coach David Joerger, who began his professional coaching career in the Dakotas, will work with youngsters at Jr. NBA camps hosted by the Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Reservation outside of Rapid City.
“The Jr. NBA is always looking to engage different communities that love basketball,” said David Krichavsky, the NBA’s vice president of youth basketball development. “Working with Tulalip and Pine Ridge provides us a unique opportunity to connect with our young fans and their coaches alongside some of the NBA’s best ambassadors.”
“Our Native community loves Basketball and the NBA,” said National Indian Athletic Association Basketball Hall of Famer Marlin Fryberg Jr., a longtime Tulalip Tribal Council member currently serving as executive director for the Tulalip Tribes Boys & Girls Club. “The Jr. NBA camps acknowledge our Native American passion for the game and will help make NBA fans for life while teaching basketball’s important values.”
“Skills like teamwork, passion, accountability and responsibility are at the core of these communities and the core of our game,” said Brooks Meek, NBA vice president of International Basketball Operations and 1994 graduate of Washington’s Marysville-Pilchuck High School. “I am especially excited to help bring the NBA to my home community, having grown up with so many friends from Tulalip. We are very fortunate to work with such committed partners as we bring our League to these passionate fans.”
“As a young basketball player on the reservation, the values of the game helped me succeed in the classroom and in life,” said Christian McGhee, a 2008 graduate of Red Cloud and the school’s current athletic director. “Bringing the Jr. NBA to Pine Ridge is a dream come true and will expose a large number of our boys and girls to the lessons only basketball can teach.”
The Jr. NBA will reach five million youth in the U.S. and Canada over the next two years through a series of basketball clinics, skills challenges and tournaments. As part of this effort, the NBA has developed a Jr. NBA partnership network that includes youth basketball programs of all NBA, WNBA and NBA Development League teams, elementary and middle schools, military installations and longstanding community partners, including Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Jewish Community Centers of North America, National Association of Police Athletic Leagues, National Recreation and Park Association, National Wheelchair Basketball Association, Special Olympics, and YMCA of the USA.
For additional information on the Tulalip camp, contact Marlin Fryberg at the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club: mfryberg@bgcsc.org
Seattle SuperSonics legend Gary Payton aka “The Glove” has partnered with the Native basketball camp, Rise Above, for appearances on reservations in the Pacific Northwest. Since last fall, the Colville Reservation and our very own Tulalip Reservation have both hosted a Rise Above camp. Two more camps are planned to take place on the Kalispel and Coeur d’Alene reservations in the upcoming months.
As our readers may recall, The Glove hosted a basketball youth skills camp at the Tulalip Youth Center last summer. For all those youth who participated and the adults who volunteered or stayed to watch their kids, they quickly realized that the camp was about much more than just basketball. It was about using basketball as a modality to empower our kids, teaching life lessons, and creating resiliency in the youth so they can grow into future leaders.
Payton met with the Tulalip News to share what his insights are on how to positively impact urban youth. You may be wondering what kind of insight a former NBA superstar can have about urban youth, especially in regards to Native youth living on a reservation. Well, the simple answer is Payton is familiar with growing up in an impoverish neighborhood, being surrounded with the poverty mindset, drugs and crime, and having to struggle against a system determined to see him fail.
Payton grew up and survived the drug-infested streets and gang filled neighborhoods of Oakland, California in the 1980s. Oakland was plagued in the eighties by a continuation of the rising crime rate and drug issues of the previous decade. Crack cocaine exploded as a big problem for the city during this period, and Oakland was regularly listed as one of the U.S. cities most plagued by crime. From being born and raised in Oakland to now following his passion for traveling the Pacific Northwest to mentor and coach urban youth, Payton has a unique perspective for sifting through issues he feels are of the biggest concern regarding the youth and how these issues can be addressed.
“Growing up in Oakland, California I was in a similar environment to a lot of these kids today, where they have a lot of free time on their own with not much adult supervision. That means you get to be around your friends the majority of the time, and your friends are going to be doing things that you want to be involved in because you want to fit in. Then things start to happen.
As I grew up and I had a father who was working all the time, but he used to tell me ‘you got to be your own man, you got to be a leader not a follower.’ If somebody says something or wants to do something that ain’t right, then tell them they ain’t right. If they don’t want to be that person who helps you and says okay I understand, then they are not really not your friend. That’s what a lot of these kids are starting to see more and more of because youth of this generation prefer to do anything other than be bored.
My generation was different because we knew how to go outside and just have fun. Everyone didn’t have a fancy cellphone, iPads, and all the rest of it. Even our cartoons and TV shows were only on during Saturday mornings and a couple hours after we got home from school. Now, TV and the internet caters to these kids so they can be watching something all day, every day.
I think for these kids today, all they need is a little push. They need someone, like myself, who has been through and seen the same things they have, to come around and give them a talking to and tell them the right way and what not to do. Because once we leave and they get someone they think is a friend who pressures them, it’s hard for them to make the right decision because of the peer pressure and idea it’s better to fit in than stand out.
But when these kids have adults and role models around who are not only looking out for their best interest, but are actually making themselves available by text, phone call, or to meet up to talk, then it becomes easier for them to say no to the bad choices and yes to the good ones. All they need is to have that support behind them, people they know are helping build them up into the best person they can be. But it can’t be only a sometimes thing, it has be an all the time thing because these kids can tell who is fake and who is real.
It’s important for us as mentors, the adults who these kids will listen to and respect, to get the youth to set individual goals. We want them to set goals or to have an ultimate goal for themselves. Most of these kids don’t have goals other than to have fun or good times with their friends, that’s not a goal. We see it all the time where they’ll get just a little bit of satisfaction from what they are doing in school or from actual hard work and then they’ll immediately flip to okay that’s enough now let me go and hangout with my friends. That mindset comes from not having goals to succeed, not having the goal to be someone who the community looks up to.
Gary Payton visits with Tulalip youth in 2015. Photo/Micheal Rios
If they had goals that are bigger than just hanging out with friends or messing around on the internet, then they’d be more willing to say no to the little things that get in their way in order to achieve their goals. That’s the biggest problem with youth today. They’re so focused on the immediate and what’s right in front of them that they don’t see the larger picture, they don’t have the passion to set long-term goals and follow through. They don’t understand that by focusing in and setting goals today, that what they are actually doing is investing in their future.
As mentors, advocates, and educators we have to remain vigilant and get these kids to buy in to setting goals and following through. It starts with their education because nothing is more important than getting a good education. A good education means opportunity and with opportunity comes the ability to do what you want to do, not just doing what you have to do. We know that kids today love doing what they want to do, so now it’s on us to get them to see that through education they can be adults doing what they want to do as well. Getting them to set goals in the classroom and with school is where it starts.
We want them to have goals like, ‘I’m going to get better grades this year than I had last year’, ‘I’m going to make honor roll this semester’, ‘I’m going to graduate with my high school diploma’, and ‘I’m going to go to college’. They seem like no-brainers, but we’ve seen they are too interested in other things and have lost that focus in school and on their education, and I’m going to keep going back to it and say it’s because there’s a lack of goal setting. It’s not good enough to be satisfied with just showing up or only doing enough to get by. We have to want and expect more from them in order to get them to want and expect more from themselves.
Our mission as mentors is to encourage, and support our youth as they discover who they are and what they want to be. Through goal setting and an emphasis on education as future opportunity for themselves, they’ll be able to become the best person they can be. Once they have that mindset to want better, to be better, everything will start to click and it’s an amazing thing to witness. They have so much to accomplish and so many opportunities available, and when they realize they are capable of reaching their goals and achieving like they never thought before then this entire community benefits.”
Tulalip hosted its quarterly biddy ball tournament on Sunday, March 20 at the Greg Williams court located within the Don Hatch Youth Center. The event was open to all kids ages 3-5 and 6-7 years old.
The Tulalip biddy ball program caters to the youngest generation of aspiring hoopers. It features lower nets, a shortened court, and is for young children who are just learning to play the game of basketball.
“It’s a popular sport in our community,” Deyamonta Diaz, Youth Activity Specialist, said following the day’s event. “We’re getting more and more people bringing their children out to learn and play biddy ball. There’s no previous experience necessary. We give them a fundamental style 5-on-5 game so they can learn how to play on a team .”
Biddy ball is really an instructional program setup for children of all level of experience to enjoy. There’s a lot of running around, basic skill sets, and learning the fundamentals of dribbling and shooting a set shot. During one session, the kids practiced drippling back and forth with then their dominant hand, then switched to dribbling with their other hand. While during another session they worked almost entirely on footwork.
The program at one point drew an estimated 50-60 kids. All the kids received a free t-shirt with ‘Next Generation Biddy Ball’ written across it.
Josh Fryberg, Youth Services Activities Coordinator, concluded the basketball-filled event by commenting, “Tulalip biddy basketball turned out great. Thank you everyone that showed up, especially the kids. All of us at Youth Services would like to continue to bring our community together in a good way. Because our biddy ball participation continues to grow we will expand our program so we are having biddy basketball once a month, the 3rd Sunday of each month from 12:00-3:00 p.m.”
Be on the lookout for more information on Tulalip’s biddy ball program in future issues of the syəcəb newspaper and on our Tulalip News Facebook page. If you have any questions or concerns call Tulalip Youth Services at (360) 716-4909.
On Friday, March 4, the Tulalip Heritage Lady Hawks (23-2) played a loser-out game in the State tournament held at Spokane Arena. Their opponent was the Warriors from Almira-Coulee-Hartline.
In the 1st quarter, Adiya Jones came out very aggressive and scored on three of her first four shots. Tied at 6-6, the Warriors started double teaming Adiya as much as possible, which put the clamps on the Lady Hawks offense. The Warriors finished the quarter on a 12-2 run to take an 18-8 lead over Tulalip.
In the 2nd quarter, the Lady Hawks went on a 10-4 run sparked by Aliya Jones connecting on a 3-pointer and a long two, then Adiya added a couple free-throws and a 3-pointer of her own. Trailing by only 4 points, 18-22, the Lady Hawks put enough pressure on the Warriors that they called a timeout. Following the timeout, the Warriors again adjusted their defense to pick up Aliya at half-court and pressured her to give up the ball. The Warriors adjustment worked as the Lady Hawks were unable to get their offense going to close the half and were trailing 22-30 at the intermission.
The Warriors ability to disrupt the Lady Hawks offense by forcing turnovers, corralling seemingly every rebound, and using their own size and athleticism to score on the Tulalip defense proved to be too much to overcome. The Lady Hawks lost the game 43-64, ending their season.
Adiya finished her last high school game again filling the box score with 27 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 6 blocks. Even more impressive, Adiya scored or assisted on 37 of the teams 43 points. Aliya added 9 points, Keryn 5 points, and Desirae 2 points.
This season was a tremendous success for the Lady Hawks. After a season to forget last year, in which the team went 2-18, the program added the talents of Aliya, Keryn and all-state selection Adiya. With a renewed vigor the Lady Hawks power housed through their regular season schedule going undefeated and winning by a whopping 30 points per game. They won their league, finished 2nd at Tri-Districts, and were one of only eight teams to play for the State title.
Senior players Adiya Jones, Michelle Iukes, Desirae Williams, Kaenishia Herrera, and Geri Iukes will be graduating this spring.
Shown below, Adiya Jones and Keryn Parks were recipients of the Hardwood Classic sportsmanship award for their play at State.
The Tulalip Heritage Lady Hawks (23-1) were one of only eight teams in the entire state to have the opportunity to play in the 2016 WIAA 1B State Girls basketball tournament. The state tournament took place March 3 – March 5 at Spokane Arena.
After finishing their regular season undefeated and easily winning their district playoffs, the Lady Hawks saw their quality of opponent get better and better with every game. First it was in the Tri-District tournament where they played one good team after another before suffering their first loss of the season in the championship round. Then at Regionals they trailed early on before stepping up the defense and securing their bid to State with a win.
Now at State, the Lady Hawks found themselves among eight of the best teams in Washington. At this level every team had the stifling defense and explosive offense that the Lady Hawks showcased all season.
Their quarterfinal opponent was the #2 ranked Knights from Sunnyside Christian. The Knights lost in the State championship game last season and were undefeated to this point. By far this would be the highest quality opponent the Lady Hawks had faced all year.
In the 1st quarter, the Lady Hawks were slow getting their offense going and trailed 0-8 minutes in. The Knights featured three girls 5’10 or taller, so they were sure to keep two of them around Adiya at all times. Adiya struggled with her shot against the stifling defense put on by the Knights, shooting 2-8 in the opening quarter. The score was 5-16 when the Lady Hawks got some good ball movement going that resulted in consecutive 3-point buckets by Keryn, Michelle, and Keryn again. At the end of the 1st quarter they were very much in the game, trailing 14-20.
Both teams struggled to score any points early in the 2nd quarter as both defenses tightened up, contesting all shots. The score was still 14-20 midway through the 2nd until Adiya sank two free-throws. Seeing the ball go in the net got Adiya going and she added five more points for her team before being called for her 3rd foul and forced to sit. With Adiya on the bench, the Lady Hawks were unable to get any more offense going and trailed 21-30 at halftime.
In the 2nd half, some quick whistles against the Lady Hawks led to many Knight free-throws, and unfortunately Adiya fouled out with 2:05 remaining in the 3rd quarter with her team trailing 24-41.
Things continued to get worse as Lady Hawk turnovers and fouls made it impossible to mount any kind of a comeback. When the final game-buzzer sounded the Lady Hawks lost 31-65.
As a team, the Lady Hawks shot 10-43. Adiya finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds, Keryn added 9 points, Aliya and Michelle both had 3 points.
It’s always easy to complain about officiating, and yes the free-throw shooting was lopsided in the Knights favor, but it was also easy to see that Sunnyside Christian was the better team. With their speed and size they made it extremely difficult for Adiya to get in her usual offensive groove near the rim, evident by her settling for outside shots and shooting a season high four 3-point attempts. Also, the Lady Hawks were sloppy with the ball, to the tune of a season high 30 turnovers, which a team like the Knights was able to turn into easy transition buckets. At this point in the season it’s all about execution and taking care of the ball.
Lady Hawks lose first game of the year, finish 2nd at Tri-District
Heritage Lady Hawks played in the Tri-District championship game against the Mt. Vernon Christian Hurricanes. Photo/Micheal Rios
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
On Saturday, February 20, the undefeated (22-0) Tulalip Heritage Lady Hawks played in the Tri-District championship game hosted at Lummi Nation high school. Their opponent was the Mt. Vernon Christian Hurricanes.
These two teams met just two weeks prior in the District 1B tournament. In that game the Lady Hawks trailed for the better part of three quarters before taking the lead in the 4th quarter. That lead quickly disappeared and it took an Aliya Jones bucket in the final 50 seconds to secure the victory. That was the closest the Lady Hawks had come to losing all season.
On to the Tri-District championship game. It played out very much the same as their first meeting, with the Hurricanes jumping out to a big lead early and the Lady Hawks having to play catchup.
What we’ve seen from the Lady Hawks all season is they play a 2-3 defense that really causes problems for the majority of teams out there. However, for those few teams who have really good shooters and players not afraid to shoot from 3-point territory, that 2-3 zone is much less a problem. The Hurricanes are such a team. They came out launching from deep and were connecting at an impressive clip. The Lady Hawks found themselves trailing 2-13 only minutes into the game. At the end of the 1st quarter they trailed 8-16 and at halftime they trailed 17-22.
At halftime the Lady Hawks would turn the reigns over to their star player Adiya Jones. If they were going to mount a comeback it would be on the back of her offensive skills. And that’s what played out, almost.
Adiya went on a scoring spree that spanned the 2nd and 3rd quarters in which she converted 10 buckets on 11 shots. Midway through the 3rd quarter she had scored 24 points and assisted on two Cyena Fryberg buckets to give the Lady Hawks a 31-25 lead. The Hurricanes refused to go away though and finished the 3rd quarter on a 6-0 run, leaving the game tied 31-31 with only the 4th quarter left to play.
In the 4th quarter, the Lady Hawks took a 37-34 lead with just over 5:00 left to play. Unfortunately, the offense would only be able to muster a single bucket in the final five minutes against the Hurricanes defense. The Hurricanes refused to let Adiya single handedly beat them, as they adjusted their defense to double-teaming her off the ball. This defensive strategy worked because on this day no Lady Hawk outside of Adiya was able to find an offensive rhythm.
The Lady Hawks fell to the Hurricanes with their impressive outside shooting, 39-41, and finished 2nd in the Tri-District Tournament. It marked the first loss of the season for the Tulalip girls.
Adiya led all scorers with 28 points on 12-20 shooting. All other Lady Hawks combined to score a season low 11 points on 5-30 shooting.
Lady Hawks bounce back with 54-42 victory at Regionals. On to State
ulalip Heritage Lady Hawks played their state qualifying game against Mary M. Knight Owls. Photo/Micheal Rios
After suffering their first loss of the season in the Tri-District championship game, the Tulalip Heritage Lady Hawks (22-1) got a week of rest and preparation for their state qualifying game on Saturday, February 27. Their opponent was the Mary M. Knight Owls out of Elma, Washington. The game was played at the Everett Community College gymnasium.
On the line was a berth to the 1B State playoffs held in Spokane. Win and be one of only eight teams to play for the State Championship, lose and the season is over.
Similar to their last game, the Lady Hawks opponent came out firing from 3-point territory. The Owls connected on four 3-point shots early in the 1st quarter to take 12-7 lead. Coach Bubba Fryberg called a timeout to make sure his team understood that defensively all the perimeter players had to be quick to contest the Owl shooters. They had to contest those shots and not give them clean looks from outside.
Following the timeout, the Lady Hawks locked in defensively and used that tenacity to score at will on the offensive end. Spanning the 1st and 2nd quarters the Lady Hawks went on a very impressive 20-0 run to take a 27-12 lead. At halftime Tulalip led 29-19.
In the 2nd half, the Lady Hawks would continue to play top notch defense and allow Adiya to run the offense as a point-forward. The Owls has no answer for Adiya. Even when they would double and triple team her, she was just too big and too strong for the smaller Owl players. The Lady Hawks had no difficulty finishing the game and won 54-42.
Adiya once against stuffed the box score and led her team with 26 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals, and 3 blocks. Aliya and Keryn both scored 9 points apiece, while Cyena and Desirae combined to chip in 10 points.
Next up for the Lady Hawks is the 1B State playoffs where they will be one of eight teams vying for the coveted State Championship.
On Saturday, February 20 the Heritage Hawks (15-11) traveled to Lummi Nation to take on our biggest rivals, the Lummi Blackhawks (16-8). The two teams were playing in the 5th place game of the Tri-District Tournament. Win and the season continues with a game at Regionals and a chance to continue to State, lose and the season is over.
The Hawks took two of three regular season games over Lummi with an identical score of 51-43 in both those wins. However, in that last matchup Lummi made some adjustments to their game plan and it payed off as they won big 78-54 over the Hawks.
In the 1st quarter, the Hawks were outscored 12-21. In the 2nd quarter, the Hawks would cut their deficit to only 4 points, but a Lummi run to close the half pushed the deficit to double digits. At halftime the Hawks trailed 22-33.
During the regular season, the Hawks defense had been able to contain the Blackhawks best player, Trazil Lane, through very good zone defense and a series of timely presses. But on this day Trazil wasn’t going to be denied as he set the tone in the 1st half with a couple dunks on his way to leading the game in scoring.
For the Hawks, their leaders Willy Enick and Robert Miles, did everything they could in the 2nd half to try to give their team the lead. They managed to cut the deficit to only 5 points, but every time they’d shrink that deficit Lummi would respond with an offensive run.
In the end, Lummi was just the better team on this day as Trazil Lane’s game high 31 points overshadowed Robert’s 20 points and Willy’s 14 points. The Hawks lost the game 54-66, ending their season.
The Hawks, with a final (15-12) record on the season, had a successful season overall. Losing four of five senior starts from last year meant many new faces this year who had little organized basketball experience. Leaning on the talents of current seniors Robert and Willy, the Hawks managed to finish 2nd in their league and placed 3rd at the District Tournament.
The sweetest win of the season came in the Tri-District Tournament when the Hawks defeated the Orcas Christian Saints, who had swept the Hawks 3-0 during the regular season, in a come from behind nail biter.
Just like last year, the Hawks will be graduating several players this spring. Dom Joseph, Robert Miles, Willy Enick, Terrence Phillips, Bobby Jeter, and Nate Williams are all seniors planning to graduate this spring.
The Tulalip Heritage Lady Hawks (21-0) went undefeated during their regular season, won out to claim the District 1-1B title, and were looking to keep their dominant run in tact as they played the Seattle Lutheran Saints (13-7) in the Tri-District Tournament semi-finals. The game was played on Tuesday, February 16 at Mount Vernon Christian High School.
It was obvious from the early going that the Saints had no answer for senior standout Adiya Jones, as she routinely got to her spots, hit shot after shot, all the while collecting rebounds. Adiya started the game red hot; connecting on 7 of 8 shot attempts and chipped in three free-throws. At halftime she had 18 points and more importantly the Lady Hawks held a 9 point lead, 28-19.
In the 2nd half, Adiya picked up a technical for commenting on a sketchy foul call. The resulting technical meant she would have to sit a stretch. With Adiya on the bench, the Lady Hawks did their best to score buckets and grab rebounds. Keryn Parks and Cyena Fryberg were rewarded with their hustle play, as both finished the game with 9 rebounds apiece.
The Saints managed to carve away at the Lady Hawks lead and towards the end of the 3rd quarter they only led by 5 points, 33-28. Enter Adiya back in the ball game. From that point on the Lady Hawks finished the game strong by holding the Saints to only 9 points the remainder of the way. In the end, the Lady Hawks won by 11 points, 48-37. Adiya led all scorers and had a very impressive stat line: 32 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 steals and 4 blocks.
Up next for the Lady Hawks is the Tri-District championship game where they will face off against the Mount Vernon Christian Hurricanes. The Hurricanes almost handed the Lady Hawks their first defeat the last time they played back in the District playoffs. In that game the Lady Hawks managed to escape with a 39-38 victory thanks to a last minute bucket by Aliya Jones.
Look for all the details of the Tri-District championship game and Regional coverage in the next issue of the syəcəb.
On Saturday, February 13, the Tulalip Heritage Hawks (14-9) traveled to Seattle Lutheran High School to play their opening game of the Tri-District Tournament. Their opponent was the Shorewood Christian Lions (16-3). It would be a matchup of #2s, as the Hawks finished #2 in the Northwest 1B league and the Lions finished #2 in the SeaTac 1B league.
The Hawks were hoping to build off their play-in victory over the Muckleshoot Kings just days before.
In the 1st quarter, the two teams traded baskets repeatedly with Robert Miles doing his best to match the scoring output of the Lions’ best player, Jovi Fevaleaki. At the end of the quarter the Hawks were very much in it, trailing by only 1 point 14-15.
However, things turned drastically for the Hawks in the 2nd quarter. The offense completely disappeared for the Hawks. They repeatedly settled for long-range, contested jumpers and were unable to attack the rim. Add in their turnovers and it’s no wonder that the Lions opened the quarter with a 15-0 run. The Hawks didn’t score until late in the quarter when Willy Enick connected on a 3-pointer. Willy added in another basket to give his team their only 5 points of the 2nd quarter. At halftime the Hawks trailed 19-36.
Following the halftime intermission things didn’t get any better for the Hawks. The offense continued to struggle with the size and athleticism of the Lions, while defensively they were unable to contain Jovi Fevaleaki who finished with a game high 27 points.
The Hawks lost the game 48-68, and would be put in a loser-out game vs. their league rivals the Orcas Christian Saints.
Hawks defense steps up big time in 43-37 win
Following the loss to Shorewood Christian, the Tulalip Heritage Hawks (14-10) found out their post-season hinged on a loser-out game vs. in league rivals, the Orcas Christian Saints (15-2). It wasn’t a matchup that appeared to be in the Hawks favor, as they had lost all three regular season matchups with the Saints. In fact, the Saints had won those three games by an average margin of 18 points per game. But in the playoffs anything can happen.
After the 1st quarter the Hawks found themselves trailing 7-11 and struggling to find their offense. On the positive side, the Hawks were liking their defensive intensity, especially on Saints point guard Michael Harris. Harris, who had given the Hawks defensive fits all season long, was constantly hounded by Nashone Whitebear.
Things continued in the 2nd quarter with the Hawks not converting their shots, but continuing to play strong defense and not letting Harris beat them. At halftime the Hawks trailed by only 4 points, 15-19. It was by far the lowest scoring 1st half the Hawks had been a part of all season.
During the intermission, the Hawks realized the ball was sticking too much on offense and wanted to move the ball more in the 2nd half; more passing to open up quality looks for their shooters. On defense, they just wanted to keep up the tempo and to continue making everything difficult for Harris while continuing to crash the boards.
In the 3rd quarter, the Hawks finally got their offense going. They scored 15 points in the 3rd, as much as they scored in both the 1st and 2nd quarters combined. The solid defense was still in effect and to this point they had held the Saints best player to only 3 points. Going into the final quarter the Hawks had taken a 30-29 lead.
The ball continued to move well for the Hawks and they found open looks for Josh Iukes who came up huge for his team in the clutch. Josh and Robert Miles both scored a game-high 15 points and it would be good enough in the low scoring game to take the victory. After losing their first three matchups with the Saints, they made the necessary adjustments and found the will to win in a 43-37 thriller for the Hawks. With the victory the Hawks season remained alive and they were guaranteed two more Tri-District games.
Tulalip Hawks get pummeled by Neah Bay, 45-106
Just when things were looking up for the Heritage Hawks (15-10), after a hard fought victory over the best team in our league, things came to a crashing halt at the hands of the Neah Bay Red Devils (16-3). The two teams played on Wednesday, February 17, at Evergreen Lutheran High School in a 3rd round matchup of the Tri-District tournament.
The game started out as a competitive one, with the Hawks and Red Devils both executing their offense. Just under four minutes into the 1st quarter the game was tied at 11-11. Then it all went south for the Hawks. The Red Devils finished the quarter on a 20-2 run to take a commanding 31-13 lead.
The Hawks did what they could offensively, scoring 17 points in the 2nd quarter, but they just had no answer defensively for the Red Devils who were shooting lights out. At halftime the Hawks trailed 30-55.
Things only got worse in the 2nd half for the Hawks, as Neah Bay continued to pile on the points with little fight from Tulalip. Getting outscored 6-27 in the 3rd quarter and 9-24 in the 4th quarter added up to a 45-106 loss for the Hawks. This game goes down as easily the worse loss for the Heritage Hawks basketball program in years.
Luckily, the Hawks get a shot at redemption with a huge upcoming game against Lummi Nation. With a win, the Hawks will play on at Regionals, but if they lose their season will be over.
