Rezbombers looking to defend NABI crown

WINDOW ROCK

The 22nd Annual Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI) gets underway on Wednesday, July 23 at various sites in Phoenix.

The NABI semifinal and championship games are slated for Saturday, July 26 with girls championship game scheduled at 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. for boys inside PHX Arena, home of the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury basketball teams.

The national high school tournament has 92 girls team and 112 boys team registered with the Rezbombers girls and the Cheyenne Arapaho boys team winning last year’s championship.

The Rezbombers, which is coached by Brian Kaye, lost three key players – Sydney Benally, Aniya Johnson and Kapiolani Anitielu – off last year’s championship team. Johnson and Anitielu graduated in 2024 while Benally joined the BYU women’s basketball team for summer workouts in preparation for the upcoming collegiate season.

“We did lose a lot of players, but we have a lot of young kids who we helped developed,” Kaye said in an interview with the Times last month.

The new talents include Kirtland Central’s Allyson Tsosie and Sandia’s Kaiyah Benally, the younger sister of Sydney.

“The new girls have some big shoes to fill but the freshmen that we have are very determined, hungry and ready to go,” Kaye said. “They’re ready to take on the challenge.”

The Rezbombers return South Dakota talent Mari Richards and Farmington High standout Kjani Anitielu. They have also added some size with post players in Chinle’s Dizhoon White, Gallup’s Kayden Tsosie and Kirtland Central’s Krista Tsinigine-Yazzie.

“We got some key pieces coming back, and we got a couple of bigs,” Kaye said. “Of course, defense is always the key and we’re going to rely on our speed.”

Anitielu believes their speed is what separates them from most teams. With a run-and-gun mentality, she expects her team to set the tone.

“It’s just how we run and that’s the way the Native tournaments plays,” Anitielu said. “What’s cool about us is we have girls that can run the floor. Our bigs can run, too, so that really helps us guards. We’re always going try and push the ball and look to get easy baskets.”

The soon-to-be Farmington senior is looking forward to the competition at NABI. She’s anticipating that a lot of teams are looking to unseat them.

“The competition at NABI is going to be good and we have a target on our backs,” she said. “The teams there are more aggressive, and they can go one-on-one. A lot of them are consistent shooters so we just have keep playing our game and stick with what our coach tells us.”

The Rezbombers coach believes there are at least five legitimate teams that could challenge for this year’s NABI girls crown.

“Legendary Elite always has a solid squad every year,” Kaye said of the last year’s runner-up team that is coached by Donny Ray Gibson.

Another team to look out for, Kaye said, is Native Soldiers, a Florida-based team that is coached by Skyla Osceola. He also has his eye on the Cheyenne Arapaho team.

“Those are the top teams that are coming back strong this year,” he said. “We’re one of five teams that I think should be there at the end.”

And while he’s fielded a girls team for numerous years, Kaye is thrilled that he’s going to have a boys team at NABI this year, which is headed by Navajo Prep graduate Xavier Nez and his son Trajen Kaye, who played at Scottsdale Saguaro High School.

“I’m excited,” Brian Kaye said. “I’m probably more excited this year than I’ve been any other year, and it’s because we’ve got a boys and girls team that are looking really good.

“The girls program has built a name for themselves and we’re going to have the same expectations from the boys,” he added. “The goal for both teams is to win NABI.”

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