This year, boys’ and girls’ basketball teams from Arizona, New Mexico, Nebraska, Alaska, Oklahoma, Florida, New Zealand and more made their way to Phoenix for the opportunity to compete in the Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI) tournament, which took place July 22–27.

The annual competition boasts the best of the best high school athletes from across Indian Country. NABI is one of the fastest-growing basketball tournaments in the country: More than 100 boys’ teams and more than 80 girls’ teams were expected, for a total of more than 1,600 athletes. Games took place mainly on the Grand Canyon University campus, which made their 13 basketball courts available, as well as at neighboring Phoenix high school gyms such as Bourgade Catholic, Central and Washington. The NABI championship games for both the girls’ and boys’ divisions were played at the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix, the home court for both the NBA Phoenix Suns and WNBA Phoenix Mercury.

Playing in this year’s NABI tournament were these Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community teams: AZ Warriors, Salt River Ba’ag, Fort McDowell (FMD), The River, AZ Lady Warriors, Zona Soldiers and NWT (Natives with Talent).

SRPMIC Boys’ Teams

The four boys’ teams from Salt River were the AZ Warriors, Salt River Ba’ag, Fort McDowell and The River. Throughout the NABI tourney, the level of competition increased after each game.

Coming into this year’s tournament, the AZ Warriors were looked upon as one of the teams, if not the team, to beat. Their first game, against Montana’s Crazy Dog Warriors, set the tone early as the AZ Warriors won 63-39. Continuing to dominate, AZ Warriors demolished fellow Arizona team The Wailers 85-26. Their most dominant victory was against Louisiana’s Tunica-Biloxi Eagles at Washington High School, where the AZ Warriors won 86-9. However, they met their match against Washington State’s Showtime Family team in the playoffs, where the AZ Warriors fell just short, 59-61.

FMD came into pool play ranked second overall in their conference and started off their NABI games with an easy victory against the Omaha Warriors, 52-47. They defeated the Washington Tomahawks 43-33, as well as team Meskwaki from Iowa to the tune of 36-35. Sadly, in the single-elimination playoff bracket, FMD ran into some stiff competition when they were defeated by the Oklahoma Runners, putting an end to their NABI championship dreams.

Returning from Washington after competing well in the first annual MarJon Beauchamp Invitational, SR Ba’ag played against some familiar faces in this year’s NABI games. Ba’ag began with four straight victories—against Montana’s FZS Nations, Alaska’s Snowbirds, Arizona’s Tunlii Warriors and Alaska’s Yuut teams. In each game Ba’ag won by at least 15 points, continuing to prove why they’re one of the premiere teams in the state. Later in the tournament, Ba’ag went up against fellow SRPMIC team The River for a head-to-head matchup that packed the Grand Canyon University gym bleachers. Ba’ag defeated The River 51-36, but later they were bounced out of the tournament by Oklahoma team Cheyenne Arapaho, 50-39.

The River got off to a sluggish start when they lost their first game against Oklahoma’s Team Legacy, 42-37. Following the close loss, the boys went on a three-game winning streak that included a blowout victory against Arizona’s Apache Scouts, 37-15. Sadly, SR Ba’ag would be the ones to eliminate The River from this year’s NABI games.

SRPMIC Girls’ Teams

The girls’ teams with SRPMIC players were NWT (Natives with Talent), AZ Lady Warriors and Zona Soldiers.

Led by Salt River players Marley Jackson, Angelina Montoya, and Seliah and Saedee Smith, NWT took the tournament by storm, winning their first five games in pool play. O’odham Action News was at their first game at GCU’s Canyon Activity Center against the S.C. Thunderhawks. The first half of the game was close, with the Thunderhawks leading 19-18. However, NWT pulled through despite the pressure and came back to win, 47-34.

In their last game, NWT eventually lost to Lady Dreams, 45-40, finishing the tournament 5-1.

Savannah Woody was the lone Salt River member of the AZ Lady Warriors club, which went 2-3 in the tournament. The AZ Lady Warriors won their first game by a landslide vs. the T.O. Storm, 41-15. They lost their next two games, against Tribal Enchantment and Nebraska team Umonhon Reign, and bounced back vs. the 21st Natives, 57-25. Their last game, played at Washington High School vs. the Rezbombers, ended in a blowout loss for the AZ Lady Warriors, 80-18.

The Zona Soldiers had a successful tournament with an electric offense that helped them go 3-2 against some tough squads. Two Salt River players were on that team: Little-Mani Williams and Taliyah Wool.

Williams said that the second game the Zona Soldiers played, a loss vs. Fort Mohave, 45-27, was their toughest matchup of the tournament.

“This is my first year at NABI and I was nervous before my first game,” said Williams. “But when I first got in the game, I made it feel like it’s a normal tournament for me. You just gotta think positive.”

When one of the players is down, Williams said that the team lifts each other up and talks to each other. Wool agreed.

“We motivate each other,” she said. “We have a lot of teamwork. That’s what we practice most, teamwork and passing the ball around, because that’s when you’ll get the most open shots.”