Cheyenne-Arapaho boys dominate for 4th title

The Cheyenne-Arapaho boys' team is used to winning championships but not like they did at the 8th annual Native American Basketball Invitational last week.

The team has won four NABI titles including last week after they defeated the Hoopa Wolfpack from California, 60-49.

Jordan Woods, a senior and the only player from previous Cheyenne-Arapaho championship teams, said the tough competition made the win sweeter.

"It was different because my freshman year when we got there we just basically blew everyone out through the pool play and the tournament," Woods said. "This year, it being my senior year, it was different because I had to be a leader - just a whole different experience than my first time."

Woods led the team with 19 points and was named the tournament MVP.

"It's a great experience and feeling...this one's so much bigger because it's a national event saying you're the best out of all the teams and players in the tournament. It's just an amazing feeling," Woods said.

His team brought a new and young team this year. NABI was new to the players but Cheyenne-Arapaho head coach Reggie Island said they were prepared.

"We played throughout the summer since March," Island said. "We had a lot of time to be able to coexist on the court. There were times during the tournament that we looked young. We didn't have that leadership besides Jordan, when we needed that leadership he really stepped up.

"All the kids that play for me, they live and die basketball," he said. "That's all we do all summer is play basketball."

Ray Mondlittle played in the tournament for the first time and said it was an experience he looks forward to in the years to come.

The 17-year-old said the win was a result of hard work and communication.

"It was one of the hardest tournaments we've ever been to since I've been playing basketball," Mondlittle said. "It gave me a different vibe of how they play all over the place. It's just like a next-level tournament.

"It was a good experience for anyone, really, anywhere," he added. "We made new friends with a bunch of people. It just felt good to win."

Island has been with the team first as a player then as an assistant coach and now as head coach and he said he can't remember a time when the team had to work this hard.

"It feels really good because I know we had to go through all the close games we had," he said. "It's actually been the toughest one we've had to go through in all the four times we've won."

Ephraim Kelley, assistant coach for the team and head coach for the Cheyenne-Arapaho girls' team played at NABI for four years and now plays for the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.

"Nothing can take away from the blood and sweat when you win a championship," he said. "It's hard to say it felt better than you winning it."

Kelley said winning as a coach felt harder than winning as a player, as he did in 2007.

"I think it's harder," he said. "I do my best to help the guys and the guys do a great job of listening."

Eight players from the last eight Cheyenne-Arapaho teams that played in NABI have earned college scholarships to play basketball. Getting kids to move up is exactly why Island does what he does.

"A lot of kids don't get a chance to play in college," he said. "It says a lot for our program. We got kids to college to play basketball.

"I drill that in to these kids that are coming up," he said. "If you stay with us, if you play with us, you're going to have that opportunity to go play in college.

"We have kids that quit," he added. "They just don't have that want to or that will power. I think with some of these kids coming up the numbers are just going to grow."

Back to top ^