Rezilient Dreams reach NABI Final Four

PHOENIX
It came down to the nitty-gritty.

That is how the Rezilient Dreams out-schemed their opponents repeatedly during its run at the 20th Annual Native American Basketball Invitational.

The Window Rock-based girls team produced some well-executed plays late in their contests to stay on top.

The Rezilient Dreams were looking to do just that in the final elimination game Saturday at Phoenix College, but the Quiet Storm was able to slow down Rezilient Dreams enough to earn a 35-32 win.

“Most of my girls have been to the top level of a state championship run,” Rezilient Dreams coach Eric Nelson said. “Two of them won a state championship game, so they’re used to this environment. They all know how to win, so it came down to execution at the end.”

In prior tournament action, Rezilient Dreams used a couple of late runs to beat the Run N Gun and RezBombers teams to reach the final elimination game where they faced Quiet Storm for the second time.

Earlier in the tournament, the North Dakota-based team defeated Rezilient Dreams 43-33.

In the rematch, the Nelson-coached team got off to a good start behind some 3-point shooting as it made four treys. Incoming Window Rock senior Melicia Nelson hit a pair as she put in 12 of her team-high 14 points in the opening half.

Defensively, Rezilient Dreams held its opponent to eight early points before Quiet Storm got a trey from Mia Berryhill with Rezilient Dreams leading 21-11 at the break.

Nelson attributed that effort to his team’s defense.

“In our first meeting we were in a soft zone and they gave it to us from the perimeter,” Nelson said. “This time we were right there with them, playing hard defense. Our defense contributed some points for us on offense.”

In the second half, though, points were hard to come as Rezilient Storm was held to 11 points.

“I think we just got ahead of ourselves,” Melicia Nelson said. “We got a little overconfident. We should have been a little more patient with the ball. We were forcing our passing, and it turned into turnovers. It was something that we didn’t want to do.”

Eric Nelson said his team got stagnant with Quiet Storm switching from man-to-man into a zone for much of the second half.

In fact, Rezilient Dreams went through a long drought as a basket by Gallup’s Kiera Livingston put them up 30-25 with eight minutes to go.

Rezilient Dreams didn’t get another basket until Dilyah Yazzie scored on a putback with 16 seconds left in the game.

“When they went into that zone we were trying to get some ball reversals,” Eric Nelson said. “We tried to get some different looks but their zone bothered us.”

The Rezilient Dreams coach said they tried to eat up some clock early in the second half but with seven turnovers it backfired.

“The clock was our friend at that time,” he said. “We tried to swing the ball back and forth, but at times the girls put the ball in the air with two passes and that kind of hurt us.

“After that they scored every time and, you know, our lead came down to one possession.”

Nevertheless, his club had a chance to extend the game with a game-tying 3. With 4.2 seconds, Nelson called a timeout to set up a play to free up Livingston in the corner.

“We knew that she was going to get open,” the Rezilient Dreams coach said. “That shot looked like it was going to go in. It hit the rim and if we went into overtime maybe we would have come out on top.”

With three players that have exhausted their NABI eligibility, Nelson said they are looking for another top finish if they can keep the core players together.

“I believe we can be right here, in the Final Four,” Eric Nelson said. “There is some spots open and we need to find the right personnel for those positions. We need to figure out how we are going to win the next game.”

“We just have to bring the team back together and if we work on the little stuff, I think that will help us next year,” Melicia Nelson added.

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