Tseshaht Pride 17U and Tseshaht Lightning 13U hustled their way to a pair of third places at the 2025 Junior All Nation Tournament (JANT) in Kelowna on March 16 to 21.
After winning their first three games, Pride fell to Nuxalk (Bella Coola) At’Maakw, who went on to win the tournament for the second year running.
Pride went on to battle the Van City Panthers for a chance at redemption and a ticket to the final, but the Panthers nabbed the early morning game 60-57.
“It was a long week,” said Pride coach Joe Charleson Jr. after the heartbreaking loss to the Panthers. “Our girls ran out of steam playing against the teams that were left in the tournament. They wanted it more than us. We are a good team, but we just ran out of gas. We haven’t played an early game all week.”
The Panthers also knocked out Tla-o-qui-aht Thunderbirds by one bucket in an earlier match. They lost 78-47 against At’Maakw in the championship game.
Last year, Pride placed second at JANT and the year before that they were third.
“We’ve been in the top three consistently the last three or four years,” said coach Charleson.
Veteran Pride player Jaidin Knighton picked up the ‘Big Man Award’.
“This is my fourth and final year at JANT. It’s a full circle moment for me. I started here with the original crew and now I’m ending it here in Kelowna,” she said.
Her final moments on the court as a 17U Pride player were spent on defence.
“My only thought was, ‘I have to keep my eye on my check’,” said Knighton. “I knew I wasn’t scoring much, so I just (focused) on my screens. My brain was on autopilot and my hands were out. I had four fouls.”
The Alberni District Secondary School Grade 12 student has been accepted to the University of British Columbia.
“I’ll talk to some coaches and make some connections,” said Knighton. “My number one priority was to get into a good college and get a good education first, and then I’ll figure out basketball.”
Pride teammates Ambrose Haintz was named Miss Hustle and Kionah Williams was named First Team All Star. Nunu Martin from Tla-o-qui-aht Thunderbirds claimed a Second Team All Star.
Tseshaht Lightning 13U burst into tears after a loss to the Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo) Islanders, but regrouped for a clutch 35-17 win against the Skeena Sisters to claim bronze.
“It was an amazing run. The girls woke up hungry and they were in ‘go mode’. All this work they’ve done for the last year was for here,” said Lightning coach Nasimius Ross.
“They left it all out on the court. We have five girls aging out this year. We’ll be recruiting for more under 13 girls and even more older girls to join our program,” he continued.
The Islanders won the 13U Gold division and the Van City Grizzlies took second.
Tseshaht Lightning players Innisa Dick-Ross and Mia Dick-Ross were named first team all stars. The sisters move up to the 17U next year.
Ross told the Ha-Shilth-Sa that when Indigenous players lace up for all-native basketball tournaments, they’re joined on the court with their spirit.
“There is structure in school ball, but in native ball you just let it go; let the energy flow and let them run their faces off to the ground and just let it all out. I think that’s the difference. It’s their spirits running around out there,” he said, adding that he’d like to see all the nations and the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council invest more into programs that bring out that spirit.
“Whatever allows their spirt to come out, that’s what we should be nurturing inside of our kids,” he said.
Tseshaht Pride and Lightning sent a sincere thank you to all their supporters.
“It’s the grandmas, it’s the moms, it’s the aunties. It’s the community that made this happen and we couldn’t have done it without them,” said coach Ross.
