All Native finals come down to wire

The 2006 All Native Basketball Tournament in Prince Rupert, B.C. was one of the most thrilling in its 47-year history, as all four division finals weren't decided until the final minute of each game. And the best was saved for last, as Hydaburg, Alaska made a tremendous comeback to hold on to its senior men's crown, their sixth consecutive, tying the record held by Kitamaat, B.C.
Yet another packed house of nearly 2,000 people filled Rupert's Jim Ciccone Civic Centre gym Feb. 11. They were treated to great drama, from the 1 p.m. women's final to the 7:30 p.m. senior men's capper. Hydaburg was faced with its most serious challenge in years and their response will go down in the history books as one of the grittiest ever.

New Aiyansh, B.C. gave Hydaburg a look in speed and skill that they hadn't seen in their impressive run and, by the five-minute mark of the second half, had built a 15-point lead on the defending champs. There was a sense in the gym that Hydaburg was done, but the tide shifted and that old movie started running again.

"They really tightened their defence and, suddenly, everything that could go wrong for us, did go wrong," said a frustrated Justin Adams of Aiyansh.

In fact, after they had stormed to a 56-41 lead, Aiyansh would not score again for more than six minutes. By the time they were able to figure out a way to get some baskets again, Hydaburg was breathing on the back of their necks, set for the kill.

"It was all heart. We just refused to lose," said a drained Devon Edenshaw of Hydaburg after the game. "This was the toughest game we've had here. They're a great team and, for over half the game, we didn't know how to stop them."

Edenshaw, the 2005 Most Valuable Player, was the man who led the comeback with 23 points, most of which came in the second half. He also had the ball with 39 seconds left and his team up by two, smartly eating up the clock before driving for a nail-in-the-coffin basket.

Surprisingly, Edenshaw wasn't named MVP this year. That honor went to Aiyansh's Gene Wolfe, who was the tournament's high scorer.

Hydaburg may have felt snubbed by Wolfe being chosen MVP, but they still took plenty of hardware home, including the intermediate men's division title, as their young squad eked out an 89-83 victory over previously unbeaten Friendship House of Prince Rupert.

Holding a four-point lead in the final minute, Hydaburg got its final five points on free throws as Friendship House was compelled to foul them to get the ball back. Unfortunately for Friendship House, Hydaburg, led by MVP Vinny Edenshaw, wasn't missing.

"We knew what we had to do tonight," said Vinny, whose team lost decisively to Friendship House the day before. "We knew they were a great shooting team and we had to pressure them to shut them down."

As Friendship House took several ill-conceived shots in the final five minutes and went a shoddy 15-28 from the foul line.

Vinny admitted that the fact that the senior men were going for history gave him and his mates more resolve.

"That inspired us because we really look up to those guys. Tonight was all about heart."

In afternoon play, North Pacific Rain of Rupert, and Metlakatla, B.C. met for the third straight time in the final, with Rain winning again, a 54-52 nailbiter.

Rain had to win this one the hard way as they were stunned 76-60 in their opening game Monday by Kispiox, and needed to run the table with seven straight wins to retain the championship. And they just did it, getting revenge on Kispiox with a 58-56 win in the semi-final before edging Metlakatla.

"We worked our asses off to get to the final," said Rain's Trish Helin. "So this one feels better!"
Rain got off to a quick start in the final, 27-9, but Metlakatla-the last women's team to win three straight titles-stormed back before halftime and the contest was close all the way thereafter.

Metlakatla actually had the ball with six seconds left and down by two, but a long stretch pass to Krystal Hawksworth went off of her fingertips and out of bounds, meaning there would be no last shot.

Point guard Carrie-Lynn Cochrane had nine second half points to pace Rain and earn MVP honors. Her mother, Tracy, was huge on the boards, with 21 rebounds.

And, finally, the Skidegate Saints knocked off the Kitamaat Haisla Braves, 66-61, to claim that village's second Masters championship.

Neither team trailed by more than five points in this one as, in the end, it was a stronger bench that proved the difference for Skidegate.

The Saints were able to keep up an aggressive defence because they could afford to lose a player or two, but the same couldn't be said for Kitamaat, who lost playmaker Vern Henry with almost four minutes left.

"It was a total commitment to teamwork," said Skidegate MVP, Ed Russ, who had 23 points. "Our bench is deep and we were in better shape this year."

Kitamaat trailed by just three with 30 seconds left but, were unable to get the ball back and were forced to foul with mere seconds remaining.