by Greg Lincoln
The annual Native American Basketball Invitational took place this past week, July 22-27, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona which featured native high school basketball teams from across the country.
Alaska youth also participated with the Alaska Storm girls and boys team from all regions including recruits from Mt. Edgecumbe High School, the Yuut Basketball teams from the Yukon Kuskokwim delta region, and the Snowbirds boys team from Scammon Bay. In total, there were 84 girls teams and 112 boys teams hailing from Arizona, California, Canada, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, along with Alaska.
Teams were put into pools for the opening games starting on July 22nd and bracket games through the 26th, games began early at 8am at NABI host gyms all over Phoenix.
The Yuut Basketball girls team was in Pool K along with NM Lightning from New Mexico, and O’odham Huhu’u and RNG of Arizona. AK Storm girls were in Pool U with NM Mustangs from New Mexico, and NWT and S.C. Thunderhawks from Arizona.
On the boys’ side, the AK Storm team were placed in Pool A along with AK-CHIN of Arizona, Full Court Elite from North Dakota, and Southern Sisikam of Arizona. The Yuut Team played in Pool R with Crit and White Hillz of Arizona, and Hinjirawi of Oklahoma. The Snowbirds from Scammon Bay were in Pool Q along with the Tunlii Warriors and the Ba’ag of Arizona, and the FZS Nations of Montana.
The Alaska Storm girls team finished the tournament with a 2-3 record. They lost their first two games against the NM Mustangs 40-29 and NWT 31-29. They beat the S.C. Thunderhawks 35-30 and the NM Lady Warriors 32-23. The fell to eventual runners-up the Legendary Elite 80-29.
The Yuut Basketball girls team finished the tournament with 3 wins and 2 losses. They lost their first game in pool play to RNG 76-35. They went on a 3 game winning streak, defeating O’odham Huhu’u 44-37, NM Lightning 44-32, and TC Rezilient 51-45. They lost their last game 110-20 to the eventual tournament champions, the Rezbombers of Arizona. The Rezbombers beat the Legendary Elite 69-40 to win the tournament.
On the boys brackets, the Alaska Storm boys team won their first two games in pool play. They defeated the AK-CHIN team 57-39, the Full Court Elite team 63-35, and Team Yaqui. They lost their next two games to the following squads: Southern Sisikam 54-35, NW Hoopers 66-53.
The Scammon Bay boys won their first game defeating the Tunlii Warriors 48-41. They lost to Ba’ag 62-47, and then beat the FZS Nations by one point 54-53. They narrowly lost to MBCI Rez Raized 71-68.
The Yuut Team played four games in pool play and lost all their matches, some were very close. They lost 41-38 to White Hillz and by one point to Hinjirawi, 45-44. They lost 58-38 to Crit, and 81-44 to Ba’ag.
The Cheyenne Arapaho boys team from Oklahoma were the tournament champions. They defeated the Lower Sioux team 56-50 to win the NABI tournament.
The final four and championship games were played at the Footprint Center, home of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury. Daniel Creepingbear of the Cheyenne Arapaho and Sydney Benally of Rezbombers were named the tournament MVPs.
The NABI Tournament was not all basketball. Students participated in the NABI Educational Youth Summit, and a college and career fair. They watched a live native dance performance by the Tohono O’odham Nation dancers and the Ak-Chin Cheer Team. Robert Stone of the Gila River Indian Community gave the opening prayer. NABI also presented the college scholarship awards. The teams also were invited to watch a baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Pittsburgh Pirates at Chase Field.
