The Marty Braves faced off against the Tiospa Zina Wambdi opening round of the Lakota Nation Invitational Tournament 2019. The Wambdi took off 18-point lead at the end of the first half with a score of 38-20. The Braves outscored the Wambdi 32-30 in the second half, but couldn’t close the 16-point lead and fell to the Wambdi 68-52.

Torrey Bohannon led the way with 9 points and 6 rebounds, Craig Small had 8 points and 2 rebounds, Xavier Hare added 7 points and 2 steals, Max Zephier had 6 points and 4 rebounds, Lawrence Rouse had 6 points and 2 rebounds, D’Andre Cournoyer had 5 points, Alex Cournoyer had 4 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals and Austin Carter added 4 points. The Braves had 25 rebounds, 8 steals, 16 fouls and made 10 of 17 free throws at 58%. The Wambdi had 24 rebounds, 6 steals, 2 blocks, 12 fouls and made 15 of 20 free throws at 75%. Caleb White had 22 points and 6 rebounds, Jamison Pratt added 15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals and Jasiah Redbear had 11 points and 4 rebounds.

The Braves then entered the Paha Sapa Bracket and first faced off against the St. Francis Warriors. The Warriors led at the half with a score of 18 -16. The Braves rallied in the second half and outscored the Warriors 34-30 to seal the win with a score of 50-48. Braves led by 7 points with a score of 34-27 with 11:10 in the second half. St. Francis rallied back sinking 6 of 8 free throws to make it 30-34. The Braves took off again with 39-32 lead with 7:18 on the clock. The Warriors closed the gap down to 48-49 with a one point lead for Marty in the final minutes. St. Francis tried to stop the clock but with only 2 fouls with 52 seconds on the clock, time ticked away. The Braves sealed the win with a score of 50-48.

Xavier Hare had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals, Max Zephier added 14 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals and 2 blocks, Alex Cournoyer had 6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks, Toriano Bohannon added 5 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 1 block. Marty Braves had a total of 35 rebounds, 5 assists, 26 steals, 7 blocks and 26 fouls (19 in second half) and made 4 of 14 free throws at 28.5%. St. Francis Warriors had a total of 38 rebounds, 9 steals, 4 blocks, 19 fouls and made 14 of 29 free throws at 48.3%.

Marty moved to the Semi-Finals matchup in the Paha Sapa Bracket was against the Custer Wildcats where the Braves shocked the Wildcats with a quick 12-7 lead early in the first half. The Braves entered the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 40-29 lead over Custer. Despite 3 starters and the 6th man fouling out in the second half the Braves were able to hold off Wild Cats to pull off the win with a score of 80-77.

Leading the way for the Braves was Xavier Hare with 27 points and 4 steals, Torrey Bohannon had 19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals, Alex Cournoyer added 14 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals and Maximillion Zephier had 8 points. The Marty Braves had a total of 19 rebounds, 5 assists, 11 steals, 2 blocks, 28 fouls and made 14 of 23 free throws at 60.8%. The Custer Wild Cats had a total of 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 15 fouls, and made 22 of 37 free throws at 59.4%. Jace Kelley led Custer with 28 points, followed by Brody Martinez with 17 points.

The Marty Braves faced the Little Wound Mustangs in the Paha Sapa Championship. Excellent defense by both teams caused a low scoring first half. The Braves and Mustangs took turns taking the lead by a basket and tying several times ending with a halftime score of 25-23 in favor of Marty. The Braves were leading by 8 points at the beginning of the second half (34-26). The Mustangs rallied back and closed the gap 32-34 in the next few minutes. The game was tied 34-34 with 7 minutes left but the Braves took off again to lead by 9 (49-40) with 2:05 left. The Braves prevailed holding to a 53-47 over the St. Francis Warriors to win the Paha Sapa Championship.

Leading the way for the Braves was Alex Cournoyer with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, Xavier Hare had 12 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, Torrey Bohannon added 11 points, 7 rebounds and 6 steals, Max Zephier had 6 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, Craig Small pitched in 6 points. The Marty Braves had a total of 31 rebounds, 7 assists, 13 steals, 16 fouls and made 3 of 8 free throws at 37.5% from the line. The Little Wound Mustangs had a total of 14 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block and 10 fouls and made 7 of 21 free throws at 33% from the line.

The Braves’ Coach Galen Drapeau Jr. was able to hold the lead with smart substitutions and time outs. The Braves are now 4-1. Their only loss to the Tiospa Zina Wambdi who finished 2nd in the Makosica Bracket. The Braves teamwork and deep bench combined with their tenacious defense took the Lakota Nation Tournament by surprise. Marty will play Omaha Nation on January 17 at home. They are currently number one in Region 6B.