syəcəb
Please come and join Tulalip Family Services/Behavioral Health for an evening of education and training on March 15, 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Tulalip Tribes Administration Building. The training will address overdose and use of Naloxone (Narcan) as an overdose responder. Tribal members who attend the training will receive an overdose responder kit upon request.
Lady Hawks lose first game of the year, finish 2nd at Tri-District
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.
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.
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
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.
Contact Micheal Rios, mrios@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
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.
by Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
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.
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.
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.
By Niki Cleary, Tulalip News
Exercise, laughter and hugs, fresh air and a sense of accomplishment were some of the gifts about 50 community members gave themselves on Saturday, February 20. The Healthy Gardening Gathering, hosted by the Karen I. Fryberg Health Clinic’s Diabetes Care and Prevention Program, was much bigger than a seminar on gardening and preparing healthy meals; it was a reminder that peer pressure can be a good thing. The effort, which involved preparing new garden beds for the Clinic gardens, more importantly provided a place to build fellowship and support for wholesome living.
Members of the WSU Master Gardeners program were onsite to offer their knowledge and enthusiasm about gardening. Many of the volunteers who joined in have worked with each other before, some have helped out at the Hibulb gardens, some are part of the Diabetes Prevention Program, others participate in the Wisdom Warriors program. Their common ground (pun intended) is a desire to live well and enjoy life.
Toddlers, elders and all ages in between joined the fun. If you are interested in learning to garden, if you want to eat healthier and exercise more, or if you’re just looking for some fun people to hang out with email Veronica Leahy for more information vleahy@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov.
Coming up, the Diabetes Program has two field trips, one for a Padilla Bay nature walk on March 11, and one for a Heronswood nature walk and plant sale, April 2. Upcoming classes and education include Diabetes Day March 3, a set of Diabetes comprehensive classes March 9, 16, 23 and 30. Additional gardening opportunities will be available at the Clinic gardens April 16 and June 11, and at the Hibulb Gardens March 5 and 12.
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
It was back on May 3, 2014 that the Tulalip Board of Directors made a motion to approve funding to build a community skate park. The skate park’s purpose is to give Tulalip youth another recreational opportunity, while offering alternative sport modalities to youth not interested in the most popular reservation activities, such as basketball, volleyball, and weight lifting. Nearly 21 months after the Board motion, after much careful planning and collaboration with Tulalip skateboarders, the Debra Barto Memorial Skate Park officially opened on Friday, February 19.
There has always been a passion for skateboarding amongst Tulalip youth, but they didn’t have an outlet for that passion or a location to showcase their skateboarding skills on the reservation until now. The newly minted Tulalip skate park cost an estimated $400,000 and is nearly 12,000 square feet in size. It features a variety of skating elements including half-pipes, quarter-pipes, ramps, bowls, and grinding rails.
Ours is but one of the growing number of skate parks being built on Pacific Northwest reservations to address the recreational needs of Native youth. Recently, the Port Gamble S’Klallam, Muckleshoot, and Lummi reservations have opened skate parks of their own.
Seattle-based Grindline Skatepark, Inc was contracted for the design and construction of Tulalip’s skate park. Grindline emphasizes community engagement during the design process, and that was displayed during a number of collaboration meetings Grindline designers had with Tulalip skateboarders and the Board of Directors.
Grindline, who also built the Port Gamble S’Klallam skate park, is well-known for creating progressive and engaging skate parks with a design philosophy that each be tailored to its users and existing surroundings. To tailor to the Tulalip location, key aspects of our culture can be found in the skate park as stylized representations of a lake, river, waves and even an orca tail fin.
Prior to the ribbon cutting ceremony held at the skate park, there was a presentation to honor the skate park’s namesake Debra Parto. According to those who knew her best, her friends and family, Debra was a beautiful, kind and gentle spirit who had a nurturing energy to all. She loved helping people and supporting the youth in the Tulalip community.
Debra was familiar with skateboarding through her children and their friends. She became a big supporter of the sport and all of the youth who participated in it. For many years, she would listen to the youth’s dream of having their own skate park in Tulalip and she started dreaming with them. Debra was determined to see the youth’s dream to have skate park built on the reservation come to fruition. She supported youth in the request for funding in 2014.
Debra passed away June 24 of breast cancer at age 49, but her determination lived on through her children and all those youth she dreamed with. Now, we are able to honor her for her fight, encouragement, support and love with what is now the Debra Barto Memorial Skate Park.
“She wanted to make sure the young ones were happy and they have a fun, safe place to go,” said Debra’s son Shane McLean. “When you’re out there skating, you fall down a lot and get a lot of scrapes and bruises. That’s how I think my mom’s life was, with a lot of ups and downs, but she always got back up and kept on doing her thing.”
Having a skate park in our community will address many of the goals the Board and Youth Service workers are tasked to achieve for our Native youth. Understanding the need to support the youth who wish to pursue healthy, active lifestyles and provide them a safe and fun area to progress in their athletic interests has remained a constant mission for the Tulalip Tribes.
The commitment to Tulalip youth is commendable and goes to show we will continue to invest in them. As Board of Director Theresa Sheldon said at the ribbon cutting ceremony, “The true leaders are our youth, and any time we can give them a voice and a platform then that’s what we’ll do.”
In the next syəcəb issue we will be detailing the opening of the Alpheus Gunny Jones Sr. Ball Field. With the additions of the ball field and our skate park, the popular Tulalip Youth Center will continue to grow in capacity and further diversify the activities local youth can participate in.
Contact Micheal Rios: mrios@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
