LUMMI NATION — The Lummi Nation Blackhawks boys and girls basketball teams swept the 1B District 1 championships on their home court Tuesday, Feb. 11.
“For the girls to get a district title and put it in the trophy case, I am so proud of them,” boys coach and athletic director Jerome Toby Sr. said. “For our boys to come through and beat a tough team, it was a good night for Lummi Nation. Fans were into it, everyone was on board tonight.”
What felt like the entire tribe packed the bleachers for the doubleheader matchup that began with the girls at 6:15 p.m. against Concrete.
Gallery: Lummi girls, boys sweep basketball districts
Lummi Girls
Lummi girls cruised to a 59-24 victory against the Lions to capture their first district title since 2008.
“We have been trying for years and it feels good,” girls coach David James said. “Since the beginning of the season, they knew what they wanted and this is just a piece of the puzzle.”
Lummi had a slow start with a 6-2 lead and four fouls in the first couple of minutes. Then Ailina Rabang scored nine points in the quarter and Brianna Metteba had three steals and three assists to give the Blackhawks a 23-5 lead.
Rabang finished the night with a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds. Metteba had nine points, five assists and seven steals while Jemma James tallied seven points, five rebounds, four assists and five steals.
“They are amazing,” James said. “They bring it onto the court every time and I can rely on them. They are a great group of girls to have.”
Rabang continued to rally the Blackhawks offense to a 44-12 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, Lummi and Concrete slowed down, holding a score of 51-16 after 24 minutes.
Lummi finished strong by putting a running clock on Concrete with about five minutes remaining. By the time the running clock started, the bench was able to get some playing time and enjoy the victory.
Lummi boys
Shortly after the girls game finished, the Lummi boys faced Tulalip Heritage for the third time this season, splitting the first two games by five points each.
“We haven’t lost to them since 2019 so that loss opened our eyes and told us we can be beat,” Toby Sr. said. “They did a good job of fighting back in this game and it was a good game.”
Although Tulalip came in confident, Lummi secured a 52-48 victory. Both teams traded the lead a handful of times throughout the first half. The Blackhawks went on a late run led by Jerome Toby Jr. to take a 29-19 lead at halftime.
Toby Jr. finished with 19 points, six assists and four steals.
The Blackhawks held a double-digit lead through the third quarter and began the fourth quarter with a 42-32 lead before seeing it nearly slip away within minutes.
“I told them (Tullaip) thrives in the fourth quarter and they showed it,” Toby Sr. said. “They don’t have any quit and that is a really good basketball team.”
Tulalip slimmed the lead to 44-39 with five minutes remaining until Dyson Edwards nailed a 3-pointer to extend Lummi’s lead again. Tulalip made a 3-pointer and got a couple of steals and layups to make it 49-45 with 21 seconds left.
Toby Jr. was fouled and went to the free-throw line to secure the district title.
“It’s how we end practice,” Toby Sr. said about free throws. “If you miss, it’s wind sprints, so I think it was unusual for Jerome to miss two but he made two big ones and finished the game well.”
Both teams will await to see what seed they draw at the Tri-District Championships. If either team draws a top-four seed,, which they likely will, they will each hosts a game on Tuesday, Feb. 18 before heading down to Muckleshoot Community Center to finish the tournament.
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
