A pair of local teams had to settle for second-place finishes at a prestigious basketball tournament.
The Maaqtusiis Suns and West Coast Spirits both placed second in their divisions at the 55th annual Prince Rupert All Native Basketball Tournament, which concluded Feb. 15.
The Suns were competing in the senior men's category while the Nanaimo-based Spirits participated in the women's division.
Besides both being Nuu-chah-nulth teams, the Suns and Spirits also had another connection. Harvey Robinson coached the Maaqusiis side while his son Kevin was the coach of the West Coast squad.
The Suns were edged 72-70 by Skidegate in their championship final. And the Spirits also lost a nailbiter, by one point, 64-63 against Metlakatla, in their final.
The Maaqtusiis club had placed third at last year's tournament. But Harvey Robinson was not entirely pleased his charges managed to move up a spot into second place this time around.
"We wanted to win," he said. "We were looking to win the tournament. It was a good run though for the guys."
Fourteen clubs participated in the men's division.
The Suns appeared to be on their way to victory as they were clinging to a four-point lead with less than four minutes remaining in their final. The Maaqtusiis club led by as many as six points during the second half.
"Down in the end though we had three key turnovers that cost us the game," said the elder Robinson..
He felt his side could have been the one celebrating after the final had it managed to stay healthy.
"Three of our starters were banged up and bruised," he said. "They played hurt. They played the whole game but they couldn't perform as well."
Robinson's son Luke, the team's 6-foot-3 centre, battled through a muscle injury near his groin. Also, guard Jeremy Sam played despite a knee injury and guard Travis Thomas was far from 100 per cent after receiving his share of bumps and bruises during the physical week-long tournament.
The Suns played a total of seven matches in the tourney. They won their first two contests over Port Simpson and New Aiyansh before suffering their first loss, 89-61 over Kincolith.
Another loss in the double-knockout event would have ended the Suns' tournament. But they proceeded to win their next three outings to advance to the final against Skidegate.
This included an 89-83 triumph over Kincolith in the semi-finals, avenging the earlier Maaqtusiis loss.
As for the Spirits, they were seeking a third straight championship in this tournament.
"It was awesome that we were both dejected from losing," joked Harvey Robinson about the fate both his son and he endured in their respective finals. "I can laugh about it now but he didn't want to talk to me after he lost."
Like the Suns, members of the Spirits also thought they would be able to pull out a win in their final. The West Coast club had a four-point lead with less than two minutes to play.
"Stuff never went our way," Kevin Robinson said. "We just couldn't score in the last couple of minutes."
The Spirits played a total of five games in the tournament. Metlakatla also defeated the West Coast side 87-71 in an earlier match.
Kevin Robinson obviously would have preferred his side to win its third straight tournament title.
"(Second place) isn't all that bad," he said. "But whatever. It makes the haters a little happier we didn't win."
Meanwhile, three other Nuu-chah-nulth squads also competed in the tournament.
The Hesquiaht Bulls ended up placing third in the intermediate men's (22 and under) division.
Also, other entrants in the women's category included the Tofino Wild Women and the Ahousaht Joye.
The Joye was eliminated after two straight losses while the Wild Women had a couple of wins before they also bowed out of the event.
