BASKETBALL IS KING in Neah Bay.
Sure, the Red Devils are competitive in football, volleyball and track.
But it is high school hoops that has a special hold over the inhabitants at the edge of the Earth.
No doubt, much of the Makah Reservation is already in Yakima for the Class 1B state tournament this week.
After all, both the boys (18-5 overall) and girls (21-0) are in the running for a state title.
And nobody, I mean nobody, travels quite like the Makah. (No, I’m not talking about taking three steps to the hoop.)
“We’ve always been a basketball town, whether it’s been Indian ball or school ball,” boys coach Michael Lawrence said.
“We just have good fans, and when they see that we have a chance at being successful, it takes off even more.
“We’ve always had a good following.”
Former Neah Bay shooting guard Dominic DeBari once called that following “our Sixth Man.”
Sounds about right.
The support both teams received from the Red Devil faithful is unparalleled on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Whether the game is in Neah Bay’s cramped field house, down Highway 112 in Joyce or somewhere along the I-5 Corridor, the Red-and-Black contingent almost always makes the most noise.
That’s often because they have the largest crowd.
“They like to go out and support us and we feed off the crowd,” said junior guard Drexler Doherty, the boys’ leading scorer at 18.4 points per game.
“The other reservations are up there too, but I still think that we’re the top.”
Basketball love
The Native American love affair with basketball has been well documented in recent years.
Books like “Eagle Blue” and “Counting Coup” have highlighted how many reservations rally around their high school teams each winter.
Peninsula basketball fans got to witness that phenomenon firsthand when the Neah Bay boys hosted Tulalip Heritage two weeks ago in Joyce.
The atmosphere for the Tri-District game featuring two tribal teams was electric. Both fan bases were locked in from the opening tip.
In fact, the gym was so packed Crescent School administrators had to bring in extra bleachers.
(They don’t even do that for Logger home games.)
By the time the Red Devils broke out their patented running game in the third quarter, turning what had been a competitive contest into a virtual layup line, the Neah Bay fans were in a frenzy.
The tribe’s traditional battle chant wasn’t too far behind.
“It’s that much more awesome [when the crowd gets going like that],” said Doherty, whose team eventually won 74-58.
“It makes a big difference.
“The crowd starts getting really loud and the other team starts getting flustered, and we start putting it on them after that.
“I don’t know what it is, but it helps us push the ball, play tougher, play with more intensity.”
Fast-break teams
Nobody appreciates fast break basketball quite like Neah Bay fans.
That’s because the transition game has deep roots in their hardwood DNA, according to Lawrence.
The girls team — which may have the best shot at a trophy of the two teams in Yakima this week — even plays an up-tempo style predicated on its full-court press.
“Running has always been a part of Red Devil basketball,” said Lawrence, who himself played for the 1982 state team. “I think it’s always been a part of Indian basketball.
“It’s just the way that it’s always been. Growing up as a kid . . . push the ball, get easy buckets, rebound, outlet and go.
“It’s been instilled in us since we were little guys.”
Indeed, many of the same people in the stands played that way all the way back into the 1950s.
The style, and the fondness it engenders, has paid off since that 1982 squad visited state; an era that has seen the Red Devil boys visit state 14 times (most on the Peninsula).
This year’s boys team has certainly taken it and run with it, putting up 90 points on three separate occasions with three players (Doherty, Robert Moss and Titus Pascua) averaging double figures scoring.
The girls, meanwhile, are making their fourth straight state trip behind their own threesome (Ardis Pullen, Alisha Kallappa and Cherish Moss) of double-digit scorers.
“We’ve just always been good at [basketball],” Lawrence said.
“People tell stories of the teams of the 50s or the 60s. And we take pride in that every one of those kids on my team are Makahs.
“It’s a pride thing.”
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.
