Category: Tulalip News
February 24, 2016 syəcəb
Hawks earn Tri-District spot with 77-68 win over Kings
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
After taking 3rd place in the District 1-1B boys basketball tournament the Heritage Hawks hosted the Muckleshoot Kings at Francy J. Sheldon gymnasium on Thursday, February 11. On the line was a spot in the Tri-District tournament. Winner plays on, loser goes home wondering what could have been.
From the early going, observers could tell it was going to be a fast-paced, high scoring game. The Hawks took an early 14-2 lead only minutes into the opening quarter, but the Kings went on a 15-4 run to cut the Hawks lead to 2 points, 19-17. At the end of the 1st quarter, the Hawks led 26-21.
In the 2nd quarter, both teams played much better defense and slowed down the scoring. Seniors Willy Enick and Robert Miles were determined to not have this game be the final of their high school career. At half-time they combined to score 30 points as the Hawks maintained a slim 37-35 lead.
In the 3rd quarter, Willy and Robert continued to play their two-man game, with Willy finding Rob in the post with a clear matchup advantage on multiple occasions. The Hawks were playing their game, their tempo, while all the while being aware of favorable matchups on the offensive end. At the end of the quarter the Hawks scored 19 points to the Kings 9 points, and led 56-44 with only one quarter to play.
The Hawks got multiple Kings players into foul trouble during the first three quarters and earned the free throw bonus early in the 4th quarter. As a team the Hawks picked this critical game to have their best free throw shooting game on the season. In fact, the Hawks shot a very impressive 25-30 from the charity stripe as a team. Add in the total domination of their two senior captains, Rob with 32 points and Willy with 28 points, and it’s no surprise the Hawks put up a season high 77 points in their 77-68 victory. With the win, the Hawks season continues as they earned their spot in the Tri-District tournament.
Lady Hawks overcome foul trouble to win 67-52
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
The undefeated 2016 District 1-1B champions Lady Hawks opened their Tri-District tournament with a home game on Saturday, February 13. Their opponent was the Mount Rainer Lutheran Hawks.
The Lady Hawks started the game in typical fashion, taking a decent lead only minutes in, but up 8-0 their star player Adiya Jones found herself with two quick fouls and had to sit the remainder of the quarter. With Adiya on the bench, the Lady Hawks struggled to find their offense, while Mt. Rainier fought their way back. At the end of the opening quarter the Lady Hawks only led by 2 points, 11-9.
When Mt. Rainier managed to tie the game at 11-11, coach Bubba Fryberg inserted Adiya back into the game. Adiya scored a couple quick baskets to give her team a 15-11 lead, but then picked up her 3rd foul on a charging call. Again Adiya was forced to the bench and the Lady Hawks had to manage without her. It was Aliya Jones who took the reins on offense and picked up the team’s energy on both sides of the ball. At halftime the home team led 25-22.
Starting the 3rd quarter, Adiya took out her frustration on the entire Mt. Rainer team by playing smart basketball and posting up the smaller Mt. Rainier players over and over again. Her post play made Mt. Rainer double and even triple team her, which opened up her teammates for high quality shots. Keryn hit two 3-pointers, while Aliya got into an offensive groove hitting 8 out of 10 shots. The Lady Hawks pushed their lead to 10 points, 52-42 at the end of the 3rd quarter.
In the final quarter, the Lady Hawks used their team defense to hold Mt. Rainer to only 10 points, while their excellent ball movement continued to yield good offense. The victory was no longer in question and the Lady Hawks won 67-52. They were led by Adiya’s 23 points, 17 rebounds and 9 steals, but it was Aliya’s 20 points that proved to be the difference, as she kept the Lady Hawks afloat through Adiya’s foul trouble.
The now 21-0 Lady Hawks play Seattle Lutheran next in the quarter-finals of the Tri-District tournament.
Alpheus Gunny Jones Sr. Ball Field soft opening, Feb 26
Tulalip Tribes Board of Directors Election, March 19
February 17, 2016 syəcəb
Lady Hawks edge Mt. Vernon Christian for District 1B title
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
The Tulalip Heritage Lady Hawks (19-0) finished the regular undefeated and earned the top seed in the District 1B girls basketball tournament. They traveled to Mt. Vernon Christian to take on the local Hurricanes (13-8) on Friday, February 5.
For the Lady Hawks, this would be their first game against stiffer competition. During the regular season the Lady Hawks completely destroyed team after team within their league. In fact, they averaged 61 points on offense while holding their opponents to only 29 points, giving the Lady Hawks an average margin of victory a whopping 32 points. That’s a very impressive margin for any team, but now that the District and Tri-District tournaments are here, they bring much better teams and a level of competition we haven’t seen all season.
In the 1st half, it was just as expected in terms of increased competition. The Hurricanes gave the Lady Hawks everything they could handle and then some. The Lady Hawks, not used to be being pressed, struggled to get the ball up court at times. To adjust, coach Fryberg had Adiya run point and bring the ball up herself. That worked as she was able to dribble through the Hurricanes defense and initiated the offense. Adiya scored 9 points in the half and assisted on both baskets scored by Cyena and Desirae.
On defense, the Lady Hawks seemed to be a step behind the Hurricanes and were called on a lot of passes for blocking or contact. This put Aliya, Cyena, and Adiya all in foul trouble in the early going, which further hindered their routinely potent offense. At half time the Lady Hawks were in the unfamiliar position of trailing 13-18.
Coming out of half time, the Lady Hawks regrouped and found their groove. They sped up the tempo and played like we are accustomed to seeing on both sides of the ball. They won the 3rd quarter 17-4 and take a 30-22 lead into the final quarter.
Midway through the 4th quarter the Lady Hawks led 37-30 and looked like they would run away with the victory, but the Hurricanes had other ideas. The pressure defense put on by the Hurricanes, like in the 1st half, made it very difficult for the Lady Hawks to run their typical offense and forced a couple critical turnovers. Then with 1:51 left in the game, the Hurricanes hit a 3-pointer to cap off an 8-0 run and take a 38-37 lead. All the pressure was on the Lady Hawks.
With 1:10 to go, coach Fryberg called a timeout and drew up a play. Whatever it was worked, as Adiya took all the attention from three Hurricanes players, the ball ended up in the hands of Aliya with an open lane and she scored a running left hander. The Lady Hawks now led 39-38 with under a minute to go. The defense did the rest, as the Hurricanes were unable to get a quality shot off and the Lady Hawks secured their win to claim the District 1B title. With the victory the Lady Hawks now enter the Tri-District tournament as a #1 seed.
Contact Micheal Rios: mrios@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
Robert’s 35 points not enough in 57-67 loss
Photo/Micheal Rios
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
The Hawks (13-8) traveled to Lummi High School on Saturday, February 6, to take on the Mt. Vernon Christian Hurricanes (10-11) in a second round game of the District 1B boys basketball tournament.
Unfortunately, it only took three minutes of game time to see the Hawks were in deep trouble. With 4:50 remaining in the 1st quarter, seniors Willy Enick and Robert Miles collided at mid-court. Both players were attempting to pick off a long outlet pass and had their eyes on the ball, which led them running full speed into each other. Both players fell to the floor and the unintentional collision led to Willy suffering a laceration to his lip. Unable to get the bleeding under control, Willy was helped off the court, taken to get stitches, and unable to return to the game.
Without Willy, the bulk of the Hawks offense and playmaking went onto Rob’s shoulders. It took a while for Rob to find his offense, as he started the game shooting 1-7 from the field. In the final two minutes of the 1st half he was able to score a quick 9 points, giving him 13 at halftime with his team trailing 24-31.
In the 2nd half, the Hawks gave a good fight, but their lack of interior size and rebounding gave the Hurricanes many offensive rebounds and extra possessions. Rob continued to do what he could on offense, even putting on a one man show by scoring 22 points in the 2nd half. Josh Iukes chipped in 7 points down the stretch, but it wasn’t enough to overcome all the point blank shots and layups the Hurricanes continued to get.
When the game ended, Rob led all scorers with a season best 35 points, but the Hawks would take the loss 57-67. The Hawks have a few games off before their play-in game to the Tri-District Tournament and the hope is Willy will be able to play in that game. The Hawks need all the playmaking they can get in order to advance and keep their season alive.
Contact Micheal Rios: mrios@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
Willy’s 34 points lead Hawks to blowout victory, 76-55
Photo/Micheal Rios
By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
The Tulalip Heritage Hawks basketball team finished the regular season with a 12-8 overall record, 11-4 within the league. That was good enough for the Hawks to qualify as a #2 seed in the 2016 District 1B boys basketball tournament. Their opening round opponent was the Shoreline Christian Chargers. The game was played on Friday, February 5, at Shoreline High School.
In the 1st quarter, both teams went bucket-for-bucket almost the entire quarter before the Hawks closed out on a small run that gave them a 21-17 lead.
The 2nd quarter saw seniors Willy Enick and Robert Miles play a very effect two-man game, leading to high percentage shots for the Hawks. The Hawks played a near flawless 1st half, only committing four turnovers, and took advantage of their quality shots to take a 40-30 halftime lead.
At halftime the Hawks coaching staff commended the boys on their overall effort and commitment to playing smart basketball. The only bit of constructive criticism was the team wasn’t boxing out and that if they focused on that the Hawks would take the game easily.
Starting the 3rd quarter, the Hawks focused in on their team rebounding and boxing out. It made a huge difference as they were able to limit the amount of Charger possessions and push the tempo, the way the Hawks like it. Willy continued his impressive shooting, as he caught fire to the tune of making five shots in a row before finally missing on a long 3-point attempt. In the end, Willy led all scorers with 34 points and a season high 10 assists, while Robert had 17 points and 12 rebounds to secure a first round victory, 76-55.
Contact Micheal Rios: mrios@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov