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Wells helps team Alaska to a sweet 16 finish at NABI tournament

July 27th 8:39 pm | Tommy Wells Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

PHOENIX - Noorvik's Danny Wells and Unalakleet's Stu Towarak may not have had many people take notice when they walked into the Grand Canyon University gymnasium prior to the start of the Native American Basketball Tournament on July 11, but they certainly noticed the two from that point on.

The two Alaska high school sensations, along with Scammon Bay star Chance Hunter, helped power Team Alaska to a berth in the tournament's Sweet 16 round at the week-long all-star event that featured some of the nation's top Native athletes.

"The team played really well," said Team Alaska coach Steve Craft. "They are a good group of young men. I felt from the start this was a good group with a lot of talent."

Team Alaska, which was comprised of players from throughout Western Alaska, finished with a 4-1 record, including a perfect 3-0 run in pool play.

Towarak, the Native Youth Olympics' one-foot high kick champion, Wells and Hunter helped Team Alaska get off to a quick start. The three, along with the hot shooting of New Stuyhok's Travis Tunguing and Joe Kohler and Aniak's Harry Morgan, powered the team to a win over the Wood River (Wyo.) Boys in the first round of pool play.

Team Alaska, which also picked up solid play from Hooper Bay's Kacy Green and Leo Ford, continued to roll in the second round of play, notching an easy win over the Arizona Apaches.

The closed out pool play with a romp over the Navajo (Ariz.) Red Devils.

With their 3-0 finish in pool play, Team Alaska advanced to the Gold (championship) bracket of the tournament to face off against the Salt River Warriors, a local team from the Phoenix area.

Hometown favorites or not, Salt River fell to Team Alaska in the opening round of the championship bracket.

The win pushed Team Alaska into the Sweet 16 round, marking the third time a squad from Alaska had advanced that far in the tournament. In 2009, Team Alaska finished third overall.

In the Sweet 16 round, Team Alaska ran into a monster. Yakama Nation

The defending NABI champions, Yakama Nation managed to spoil Team Alaska's title hopes ... barely. Yakama Nation eked out a narrow win over overtime over Team Alaska.

"We had a good team," said Craft, who shares the coaching duties with Aniak's Severin Gardner and Unalakleet's Ike Towarak.

Prior to traveling to Phoenix, the members of the team practiced in Soldotna for a week. Once in Phoenix, the squad was treated to several seminars and shopping trips to area malls. The team also had the opportunity to meet former NBA standout A.C. Green.

Green won three NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in a career than spanned more than 15 years. In addition to the Lakers, Green also played for the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat.

Overall, 64 teams from throughout the U.S. participated in the tournament.

 

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