Four teams from the Hazelton area are competing in the 55th annual All Native Basketball Tournament in Prince Rupert this week.
Both the Hazelton intermediate, 17 to 21 years, and the Hazelton women are headed to the tourney and the Kispiox men and women will also be representing their home village.
The Hazelton women began the tournament with the first game after the opening ceremonies at 1 p.m. last Sunday against Masset.
The intermediate team kicked off its quest for a spot in the finals against Hartley Bay Monday at 8 a.m.
The intermediate squad is led by Travis Smith, who is returning from Grand Prairie college where he is a red-shirt for the men’s team this season.
Travis hopes to bring what he’s learned thus far to the ANBT and help his team do well.
“I’m a more complete player now than I was last year,” he said. “I’ve worked on defence and some other weaknesses. It’s going to be a good tournament.”
When asked about his team he was optimistic in response.
“I think our team is young and a little raw,” Travis said. “But we have some solid players who can get the job done.”
Marty Smith, Travis’ father, is the team’s coach and is also looking forward to placing better than his team did last year.
“We’re a year older and with Travis coming back from college things are looking good,” Marty said. “We’ve got some good, young kids coming up this year too.”
But the coach is unwilling to write his team’s first opponent off just yet.
“I like our chances against them,” he said. “But you
never know? Every team headed to the tournament plays a lot and they might have a few kids come out of nowhere.”
The Hazelton women dominated Massett on both ends of the court Sunday, jumping out to a 12-4 first-quarter lead.
“We passed the ball around nicely and played monster defence,” Tamara Stoney, who scored 25 points, said. “It was so much fun playing defence with these ladies because the other team has got to beat all five of us and not just one.”
Hazelton held a 33-19 halftime lead and won 69-38.
See next week’s Three Rivers Report for a complete story on the ANBT.