PHOENIX, ARIZONA
A team of basketball players from across the Northwest Territories returned from Phoenix, Arizona this month after trying their hand at an international tournament.

Twelve high school students from across the Northwest Territories spent the first week of July in Phoenix for the Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI). In the back row are John Roche, PJ Wedzin, Liam Larocque, Devon Fillion-Delorme, Keenen Wolki and River Ross. In the front are Warren Cli, left, Zehro'h Waugh, Tyler Lafferty, Bryce Hardisty-Phillips, Jackson Christie, Kevin Roche and Gabe Klengenberg. - photo courtesy of Neil Barry

The team, consisting of 12 high school students - four from Fort Simpson - spent more than a week in Phoenix for the Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI), which began June 30 and ran until July 4. The young people returned home on July 7.

During their time there, they shared the court with 152 other teams, facing off in two exhibition games and four playoff games.

The team improved as the tournament went on, culminating in a six-point loss in their final game.

"We were a young team this year, compared to the last couple times we went," said coach Neil Barry.

"We had a lot of younger players but they did well. We had some close games; we didn't get a win, but our last game in the playoffs we lost by six. That was a close one."

The team consisted of Fort Simpson players Tyler Lafferty, Kevin Roche, Zehro'h Waugh and Bryce Hardisty-Phillips. The boys joined Yellowknife players Devon Fillion-Delorme, PJ Wedzin and Gabe Klengenberg for the tournament.

Four boys from Inuvik were also on the team, including Liam Larocque, Jackson Christie, Keenen Wolki and River Ross. From Deline, John Roche also attended.

While Lafferty and Roche just completed Grade 11, Waugh and Hardisty-Phillips are headed into Grade 9 and are at the lower end of the tournament's age bracket.

Additionally, Barry said the team was accompanied by Warren Cli, a Grade 6 student who splits his time between Fort Simpson and Edmonton.

"He got to play in the exhibition games and he did really well. He made the crowd 'ooh' and 'aah' in the gym during the last game, for how tiny he is and how well he did against really big players," Barry said.

Barry has taken teams to NABI for four years. He said one of the biggest challenges young people from the Northwest Territories face during the tournament is the physicality of American players.

"The officials don't call a lot of contact and the defence is high-pressure. They're all over you," he said.

"That took some time for the kids to adjust and get used to the style of play. Later in the tournament, we started to really gel and be able to handle it."

For Lafferty, this marked his second year attending the tournament.

"I wasn't as nervous as I was when I first went. I felt I knew how the competition was," Lafferty said.

"I was a little more prepared for how physical they play."

Lafferty and his teammates all took turns on point guard, using each other to pass the ball.

Going into Grade 12, Lafferty has one more opportunity to play at NABI before he graduates. Before that happens, he said he plans to work on improving shooting under pressure.

"During the tournament, none of (my shots) were really dropping. That's because I was low on confidence," he said.

After he graduates, Lafferty plans to continue pursuing basketball at a college level.

For Barry, the highlights of the tournament were seeing how well his team meshed together.

"In the last couple games, the team really started passing to each other well and playing stronger defence, communicating with each other on the floor. It was nice to see the chemistry finally coming together," he said.

"Off the court, the boys are all from different parts of the territory, so they really bonded and became close friends. That was cool to see."

He said Hardisty-Phillips, the youngest player on the team, played well.

"All the older players were really impressed," he said.

This was Hardisty-Phillips' first time playing NABI, but he didn't let the pressure of being the youngest player deter him.

"It was exciting to play the games. The pressure was difficult (but) it was good," he said.

"The first couple games, I did OK. I started picking it up, knowing there was pressure, and started getting around the opposing teams' defence. I think I can improve my defence in the future, too - going up and pressuring (the opposing team)."

During their stay in Phoenix, the team went to the championship game and made a presentation to NABI's founders, presenting them with a Canadian flag.

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