The Nanaimo Native Sons repeated as tournament champions in front of a raucous crowd Friday in Williams Lake at the Junior All Native Basketball Tournament.
The Native Sons defeated Syilx (Okanagan Nation) 95-81 in the final to top 16 other teams from around the province in the tournament, held March 13-18.
“First off, I’d like to thank that other team for playing a great game against us,” said Native Sons coach Charles Gladstone. “Playing them year after year is pretty tough.”
Syilx had sent Nanaimo to the loser’s side of the draw just two days prior, where the Native Sons battled through Prince Rupert in the semifinal to earn the rematch in the championship.
Hayden Jeffrey unloaded for 35 points, while Jordan Gladstone dropped 19 points to lead Nanaimo’s offence. Will Nicholls also chipped in with 16 in the win.
The team’s path to the championship consisted of wins over the Gitmidiik Storm (Gitlaxtaamiks), the Maaqtusiis Magic (Ahousat), the Skidegate Saints (Haida Gwaii) and Prince Rupert.
Trailing 45-40 at the half, Gladstone said his club was getting hammered on the boards and needed to start playing a more team-oriented game.
“We knew if we could do that and close the wings off in the second half we’d get the game,” he said.
In the girls’ final Syilx (Okanagan Nation) downed Greenville 71-40 to claim its third consecutive Junior All Native Basketball Tournament crown.
Madison Terbasket scored 25 points, Jessica Parker dropped 18 points and Reiley Terbasket had 15.
“We played well when we had to,” said Syilx coach Amanda Montgomery. “They played Syilx ball and pulled together to win for the third straight year.”
She said for two of her players, Madison and Reiley, it was their last year of eligibility to play in the tournament.
“They really excelled with their leadership this year,” Montgomery said.
Parker, who was dominant in the post during the final, will play a big role in Syilx’s future heading forward, Montgomery said.
“She’s one of our younger girls at Grade 9. She’s so athletic and works the boards hard. She’s a really coachable girl.”
The Nuxalk Nation (Bella Coola), the host community, entered teams in both the boys’ and girls’ divisions.
On the boys’ side the Nuxalk Nation defeated Lil’wat (Mount Currie) in its first game before falling to Prince Rupert in round two. Wednesday, despite a valiant effort, Bella Coola was eliminated from the tournament by Port Simpson.
The girls, meanwhile, downed Skidegate in its first game, but lost to Greenville, the tournament runner-up, in game two. They then advanced after a win over the Gitsegukla Predators, before being knocked out of the tournament by Van City (Vancouver).
The tournament featured upwards of 450 participants in both boys’ and girls’ divisions of players aged 13-17. Games were spread across three venues in Williams Lake where crowds of more than 500 spectators regularly attended.
Tournament committee member and organizer Crystal Tallio of Bella Coola said she couldn’t have been happier with how the week went, noting more than 50 volunteers spent countless hours organizing the event.
“We started back in August [of 2015] and we’ve been going full swing since then,” Tallio said.
She stressed the importance of the tournament in providing a positive environment and experience for First Nations youth around the province.
“It was a really great turnout and all in all a really great week,” Tallio said. “We really wanted to represent our kids and uphold our youth, as well as represent our community.
“The basketball was all really good calibre and all the kids played their best. We had lots of good feedback from the other teams.”
Prior to the tournament teams had expressed hesitance about travelling to Williams Lake due to a recent rise in violent crime in the city.
Tallio, however, said everyone’s preconceived notions were put to rest after spending time in the city and thanked members of the RCMP for being visible around the tournament’s three venues and for spending time with the kids.
“The RCMP were visible and made themselves well-known around the tournament,” Tallio said. “There had been a lot of bad publicity about a lot of crimes in Williams Lake [before the tournament]. The RCMP pulled to together and were around the games and it was great to see.”
One of the most memorable moments of the tournament came when RCMP members, dressed in uniform, played an impromptu pickup basketball game at the court outside Lake City Secondary School’s Williams Lake Campus against players from Hesquiaht (northwest of Tofino).
Next year’s Junior All Native Basketball Tournament will be hosted in Kelowna.