SKC teams compete in national tournament this week

The SKC men’s and women’s teams hosted the Montana Tribal College tournament this past weekend in Pablo. 

The men had a bye the first game, then won Saturday afternoon to play in the semifinals Saturday night against Stone Child College. At halftime of that game, the Bison were down by 21 points. They came out in the second half and forced 10 turnovers to win the game 97-95. “The team really showed heart and pride that second half coming all the way back and they never stopped believing in one another and that’s the most important thing we got out of that game,” he said.

They would end up playing the same team in the championship game, and won that game 110-90. Eight out of nine players scored in the double digits, and as a team, they hit 14 three’s and had 33 assists. Isaac Camel dished out nine assists for the team, and J’Von Smith added four three’s. Aquino Brinson led the team in scoring throughout the weekend, averaging 23 points per game, with a game high 33 points in the semifinal game. “It was our best team effort of the year, thus far, but we are still not done we have more work to do this week,” Conko-Camel said of the championship game, “This team is as close as any team I have ever coached and I look forward to great things from them in the national tournament.” They go into the National AIHEC tournament this week with a 21-3 record.

On the girls’ side of things, the Lady Bison won their first game of the tournament before losing their next two. Coach Juan Perez said the team will do great if they follow the plan. “If everyone does the job that we’ve been working on we will do well,” he said.

Last year, the women took second place at the national tournament. Starting Wednesday, both teams participated in pool play. Then, they will be ranked and play in a single elimination tournament. The men will be trying to defend their national title.