It was a chance at redemption for the Hydaburg master’s team as they matched up against the Lax Kw’alaams Hoyas, the team that bested them in the second round and redemption it was, the Warriors put the boots to the Hoyas beating them by a final of 98-74.
Hydaburg’s victory was fuelled by yet another strong performance from Devin Edenshaw. Edenshaw, who was later named most inspirational, best defensive and MVP of the tournament, was the driving force of the Hydaburg offence throughout the game and was put in charge of shutting down the Hoyas’ lethal backcourt combination of Brandon Sampson and George Kelly.
When talking about the monumental defensive task Edenshaw said he knew he couldn’t do it alone.
“Our game plan was just to play good team defence, we knew they had two good guards back there and we tried to key in on them, a full team effort from the guys,” Edenshaw said.
READ MORE: All Native Basketball Tournament: Intermediate Finals
It just wasn’t Lax Kw’alaams’ night as the usual dynamic duo of Sampson and Kelly were cold from the floor, and the Hoyas’ offence stagnated allowing for the warriors to pull away early in the second half.
Head coach of the Hoyas, Stan Dennis knows just how good and young his team is and knows this won’t be the last time the Hoyas’ see the finals.
“I thought, we sent a statement to the rest of the tournament, we are a team to beat and we got all the way to the finals,” Dennis said.
While the Hoyas’ believe they are the team of the future, the Warriors are the team of the now, having won five straight master division titles, and having players that were apart of the Hall of Fame senior team that won 13 of a possible 15 titles from 1997-2012.
“I’ve never lost my first game here, it was new to me, but they all feel good, I’ve never not played on Saturday here,” Edenshaw said.
The Hydaburg seniors team wasn’t able to make it and some players on the master’s team had to come late due to delays, but for Hydaburg head coach Clinton Cook, there was no way they weren’t coming to defend their crown.
“The tournament is always amazing, I love the competition on the court and camaraderie off of it, we all seem to be friends after games,” Cook said.
FINAL SCORE: 98-74
MVP: Devin Edenshaw
Top Scorers:
Hydaburg: Devin Edenshaw (39), TJ Young (22), Matt Carle Jr (21)
Lax Kw’alaams: Brandon Sampson (19), George Kelly (16), Will Sheppard (15)
READ MORE: All Native Basketball Tournament Day 6: Recap
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