One game had only one moment of excitement, the other was filled with excitement from tipoff to final buzzer. But in the end, the result was the same — two Lummi Nation victories over tribal rival Tulalip Heritage on Friday, Jan. 31.
First the exciting one: In a game reminiscent of their earlier meeting, the Lummi Nation boys took a big lead but this time held on to hand No.2-ranked Tulalip its first loss of the season, 69-63, in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Besides avenging a five-point loss to the Hawks on Jan. 17, the victory raised the Blackhawks’ record to 16-3 overall and 7-1 in the Northwest 1B League. The defeat dropped Tulalip to 17-1 and 11-1 in league.
In the earlier game, the Lummi Nation girls scored the first 28 points to easily dispatch Tulalip Heritage, 62-16. With the win, the Lady Blackhawks finished unbeaten in 10 NW1B League games and are now 17-3 overall.
The Tulalip girls dropped to 5-11 overall and 2-8 in league.
Both Lummi teams will go as top seeds into their Class 1B District 1 tournaments, which will be played at Lummi Nation starting Thursday.
The top five boys teams and top five girls teams at district will advance to their respective 12-team District 1/2/3 tournaments starting Feb. 15. The top six finishers in each then advance to the state regionals.

Seniors Tony Abrams (5), Karson Revey (22) and RayShawn Bob (11) lead the cheers on senior night.
Blackhawks Hand Tulalip Boys First Loss, 69-63
In the two teams’ first meeting at Tulalip, the Blackhawks held a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Hawks rallied for a 68-63 victory. On Thursday, things looked eerily similar.
After erasing Tulalip’s 10-point first-quarter lead with a 22-point second quarter that gave them the halftime lead on Jerome Toby Jr.’s 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in the half, the Blackhawks kept soaring and led by 17 when sophomore Deandre James made a layup with 6:39 left in the game.
But the Hawks hadn’t won 17 straight games by giving up and a 15-2 run over the next four minutes closed the gap to five and it began to look like a rerun of Lummi Nation’s previous collapse. But not this time.
“It got scary, but good teams like Tulalip will do that,” said Lummi Nation coach Jerome Toby Sr., who was probably the calmest person in the packed gym. “We didn’t get the job done last time. But this was the way to finish a game.”
And finish the Blackhawks did. Sophomore Dyson Edwards hit a layup, Lummi forced two turnovers and Toby Jr. sank four straight free throws in the final 24 seconds to offset a Tulalip 3-pointer and give the Blackhawks their biggest win of the season.
“We made a couple more plays tonight,” said the junior. “We had more composure this time.”
Toby the player was a big reason why. Nothing rattled the point guard as he scored a game-high 28 points, hit two 3-pointers, and was a remarkable 7 for 7 from the line before the largest crowd either Toby could remember in Lummi’s gym.
“This is our biggest game,” Toby Jr. said of the rivalry. “You look forward to it all year. It’s a big deal for fans, players, and our communities.” And for the league championship, he was reminded. “Oh yeah, that too.”
Lummi Nation also got big games out of sophomore Landon LaFontaine, who sparked the Blackhawks’ first-half comeback with three of his four 3-pointers and 11 of his 14 points, and James, who had 6 points and was a force inside.
And on Lummi Nation’s senior night, seniors Karson Revey, Tony Abrams, and Trevon Lee played key roles. Revey had 11 points, Abrams and Lee combined for 7 points, and all three were important on the boards and on defense.
Junior Davien Parks led Tulalip with 21 points and three 3-pointers, but the Hawks hurt themselves by shooting a miserable 6 of 19 free throws. The Blackhawks, meanwhile, went 9 of 11 from the line.
All in all, as Toby the coach said, “It was a fun night for Lummi Nation. A capacity crowd got to see a good game between two good teams.”
Of course, this probably won’t be the last time the two teams square off. There’s the district tournament, the tri-district tournament, and — who knows? — possibly even the 1B state tournament in Spokane.
“We’re celebrating now,” said Toby Jr., “but we’ve got to be ready for next time.”
Lummi Nation 69, Tulalip Heritage 63
Tulalip Heritage 22 11 11 19—63
Lummi Nation 12 23 21 13—69
Tulalip Heritage: Myles 13, A. Hatch 9, Jones 14, Parks 22, Davis 2, Black Tomahawk 3 P. Hatch.
Lummi Nation: Toby 28, LaFontaine 14, Edwards 3, Abrams 3, Lee 4, Revey 11, James 6.

Jemma James (in pink shoes) gets a hug after hitting her historic shot.
James Reaches Milestone In Lady Blackhawks’ 62-16 Victory
In a game with less suspense than a Hallmark movie, the only question was “when?” When would Lummi Nation sophomore Jemma James break the 1,000-point mark?
It came with two seconds left in the first half when the 5-foot-3 point guard took a pass from junior Ailina Rabang and raised up for a 3-pointer that hit nothing but net.
James, her teammates, and all the Lummi fans seemed to know history was made — maybe because the cheerleaders had a sign that counted down the points she needed to hit the milestone. She needed 14 on Friday and that would be all she’d get as Lummi Nation already had a 45-2 lead at the half.
The game was decided when Rabang suited up. The senior guard had 11 points in the first quarter and she would end up outscoring Tulalip with 17 points. In addition to James’s 14 points, junior Bri Metteba had 12 points, and freshman Celestine James had 6 points as eight of the nine Blackhawks scored.
“They played well tonight,” said Lummi Nation interim coach David James, who also happens to be Jemma’s father. “We got a good start, and then started rotating, working on plays, and getting a lot of kids in.”
To their credit and maybe out of respect for their tribal rivals, the Blackhawks didn’t unleash their vaunted fullcourt press and sat their starters much of the second half. One of their leading scorers, junior Kashlyn Mack, was more of an assistant coach and cheerleader as she sat out the game because of an injury.
But the night belonged to Jemma, who has been a varsity starter since eighth grade.
“I never thought I’d reach 1,000,” she said. “Then to do it in front of all these people. That was exciting.” And what was she thinking at the time? “As soon as I shot it, I knew it was going in,” she said with a smile.
As for the school’s career scoring mark, she’s still got a ways to go. Her aunt, Sarah Tom, holds the record of 2,156 points.
“I’m not worried about that,” said Jemma. “I take it one year at a time. But she (Tom) said she’d let me break her game record (46 points).”
After Friday’s game, her coach was smiling as much as his daughter, who seemed to be congratulated by everyone in the gym. And everyone had to get in the family photo holding up the banner, of course.
“I’m proud of her,” he said. “She’s worked hard, and it’s shown.”
Lummi Nation 62, Tulalip Heritage 16
Tulalip Heritage 0 2 5 9—16
Lummi Nation 21 22 2 17—62
Tulalip Heritage: I. Jefferson 3, Lewis 5, McLean, Zackuse, L. Jefferson 4, Jones-Charels, Hayes 4.
Lummi Nation: Morris 4, J. James 14, Rabang 17, B. Metteba 12, Jones 4, Lopez 3, Dennis 2, Williams, C. James 6.















































