Championship Saturday Showdowns bring All Native Tournament to a Close

The days blew by pretty fast, the early whirlwind of activity from last Saturday in the Russell Gamble Gymnasium and the Cicic Centre Arena, affectionally called the Ice Box by the CFNR broadcasters saw both familiar faces and newcomers to tournament time for the 2023 edition of the All Native Basketball Tournament.

The 63rd year for the event did not disappoint its fans for delivering on fast paced action, along with some surprising results that changed the dynamic as the week went by.

Defending champs would fall by the side, while rising new powers pushed their way through, serving notice that they will be a force for a few years to come.

The seven day run to Championship Saturday brought us both blow out contests and nail biter finishes, some requiring a few extra ten minutes of play play, on occasion two or three times,  before declaring a winner.

There was skilled playmaking, strong defence and three point shots from places that few might expect a ball to find some twine. 

The over riding theme for the week was team work and respect, the end of the game celebrations making for a mixture of players from both teams, celebrating a hard fought contest regardless of a final score.

By the end of the week those post game shows of respect had an increased sense of finality to them. With one team moving on in the tournament; the other moving out, their 2023 ANBT experience at an end the planning for a return in 2024 set to begin.

And that sets the stage for Championship Saturday.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Play starts up this morning, with a Semi Final Intermediate contest for Bella Bella and Skidegate, the 9 AM tip off promising at least one more game for one of the two teams, with the winner destined to return to the court later in the evening for the Intermediate Final with Prince Rupert at 6 PM 

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

The Senior Men have one more match up to wrap up as well to find a finalist. 

With Skidegate and Similkameen on the court at 11:30 AM, the winner gets to do it all over again at 7:30 when they take on Burnaby for the Senior Final

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

The Women's final was set on Friday, when Kitamaat topped the defending champs from Vancouver, setting up a Women's Championship tilt at 1 PM against Similkameen.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

The Masters final match up was secured following a barn burner of a contest between Prince Rupert and Hydaburg on Friday. 

Just four points were the difference as Hydaburg advanced, their shot for the title comes at 2:30 PM when they play New Aiyansh for the Masters Final.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Of the four contests for the Finals, only one has the potential to deliver a returning Champion that's the Masters Division which will see New Aiyansh defending their title from last year.

The three other Division's will all deliver new champions for 2023.

So settle in for the final drama of a remarkable week as the ANBT reaches its final on court battles for another year.

All of the Championship Saturday action is taking place in the Russell Gamble Gymnasium.

A reminder for fans, particularly those attending the two evening contests, parking will be a challenging thing, with the Prince Rupert Rampage also hosting an event Saturday night at 7 PM.

Arriving early may help improve your chances of finding a parking spot that won't mean a bit of a hike to the facility.

Notes on Tournament week can be explored through our archive page here.