Sunday, December 22, 2024
35.0°F

SKC basketball teams head to National Tourney

| March 22, 2007 12:00 AM

Zach Urness

Leader Staff

The SKC Bison men's and women's basketball teams have come to the end of a grueling six-month season, and are heading into the National Tribal Championships in Rapid City, S.D.,beginning March 29 and ending April 1.

The men's basketball team, which has won the last two championships, will be the tournament favorite, as they currently boast a 15-game winning streak and average over 100 points per game.

"Things have gone great this season,” said head men's coach Zachary Camel. "As long as we share the ball, attack, and play the way we have all season, then I have a lot of confidence in our ability."

The Lady Bison have also had a good season, having amassed a 17-15 record, and will be looking for their first National Tribal Championship since 2001.

"Doing such a long season has been interesting," said women's head coach Juan Perez. "The girls have grown a lot over that time — it wears on the team — but the girls are ready to play."

Both played against a mix of junior and tribal colleges and Frontier Conference junior varsity squads, almost all of which came on the road.

The men's basketball season was highlighted by winning the Kyi-Yo tournament in Missoula. "We beat some really good teams," said Camel. "We passed the ball well and played very well together."

Perez noted that some of the highlights from women's season came in victories over the University of Montana Western's JV and Great Falls' JV.

"Those are teams that we've been close to beating but have just come up short," said Perez of past games against Western and Great Falls. "But this year we were able to get some nice wins against them."

Both coaches noted that their team's seemed to be peaking at the right time.

"When we work hard on both sides of the court, as we have lately, we're a pretty good team," Perez said.

"Our greatest asset is our experience," added Camel, noting that many of the players who was last year's championship team have returned. "When we make the extra pass and shoot the 3-pointer the way we have, we're pretty tough to beat."

The men will open up pool play against Blackfeet Community College and the women will open up against Fort Berthold Community College on March 29.

"We've been working toward this all season," said Perez. "And we're ready to play."