‘We pretty much had to battle every game’, Northern Elite falls short at NABI

PHOENIX
Northern Elite boys basketball coach Rick Destea believes his club didn’t get a favorable bracket.

The longtime club coach said they faced some tough opponents during the weeklong Native America Basketball Invitational held at various sites in Phoenix.

“It seems like we had a tough bracket on our side,” Destea said. “We pretty much played all the strong teams. Overall, we pretty much had to battle every game just to continue playing in the bracket.”

Northern Elite faced its first stern test in the second round of bracket play when it edged Unconquered 66-60. The Destea-coached team then beat NW Hoopers, 62-59, and Young Guns 49-43.

“We played some really good squads,” he said. “These were games that we were looking forward to instead of the easy ones. Every game was pretty tough and they all gave us a challenge.”

After posting six straight wins, Northern Elite lost back-to-back games as it bowed out of the tournament. Northern Elite lost first to Akichita, the eventual national champs, 81-61.

“They were the team to beat,” Destea said of the North Dakota-based squad. “We just couldn’t get any baskets to go in. On defense, we allowed too many 3s on the outside perimeter.

“That team was hitting everything they were putting up,” he added. “It was one of those nights where we couldn’t get a basket and we couldn’t get a stop.”

With its loss, Northern Elite played Unconquered for the second time with the Seminole team exacting revenge on them with a 63-60 win.

“We pretty much battled them throughout the whole game,” Destea said. “We had a turnover towards the end that gave the ball back to them. We still had an opportunity to tie the game. I think there was six seconds left on the clock. Albrandon (Byjoe) did what he can to try and put up that last shot to tie the game, but the basket didn’t fall for us.”

The Northern Elite coach said he returned a veteran squad this year at NABI and he felt that they had a strong chance to get to the finals.

“We had shooters,” Destea said. “Pretty much everybody that played averaged at least 15 points and above per game for their high school programs. We had a lot of shooters on our team. “They could shoot the 3-point shot, they could shoot inside and they could drive and penetrate to the basket. We had shooters, and we had quickness also,” he said.

Just before NABI, the Northern Elite won a tournament in Bernalillo, New Mexico. It also played in a prestigious tournament in Denver, making a deep run. In addition, Northern Elite made it to the Final Eight at an All-Native national tournament in the Valley.

“We really had a good offseason, even though we didn’t have our entire lineup,” he said.

At the NABI tournament, Northern Elite played without Albuquerque Del Norte graduate Shane Douma-Sanchez, who signed with the UNM men’s basketball program.

“His college program got started and he couldn’t play for that reason,” he said. “Even though he didn’t play with us, we still had a really good squad.

“I still feel that we should have made it to the championship game,” he added. “In our last game we just ran out of time. I think if we had another minute we could have pulled it off.”

Destea said the NABI tournament was their last tournament of the year as they are looking to reload next year with some new talent.

“Some of our players are going off to college,” he said. “We got four of our players signed to play at the next level and I believe they’re going to do well.”

Of the four players, former Monument Valley standout Albrandon Byjoe and La Cueva alumni Cedarius Yates are headed to Navajo Technical University in Crownpoint.

Del Norte’s Deion Jim is going to suit up for Ottawa University in Surprise, Arizona while his high school teammate Douma-Sanchez is at UNM.

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