By Micheal Rios, photos courtesy Willy Enick and Deyamonta Diaz
Four games in four days. Under the bright lights of Spokane Arena. For a chance at bucket-getting glory. That was the mission for the (19-4) Tulalip Heritage Hawks boys basketball team who journeyed to Spokane, Washington for the much-heralded WIAA State Tournament.
After an exhilarating (15-1) regular season, 2nd place finish at District’s, and a 3rd place finish at Tri-District’s, the Hawks winning ways earned them a ticket to State. They were slotted as the tournament’s #6 seed.
Wednesday, March 5
In Spokane, Tulalip’s first opponent was #14 Summit Classical Christian. They boys previously played and defeated Summit, 66-53, in the Tri-District Tournament. That familiarity with a previously vanquished foe injected additional confidence into an already confident squad. The Hawks jumped out to an early 19-11 1st quarter lead thanks to a well-balanced scoring attack. Each member of the starting lineup scored a basket by the end of the opening quarter.
Their tenacity didn’t let up. The Hawks flew away with a 70-51 win. This particular game was a great example of ball movement and scoring distribution, exemplified by the well-rounded scoring attack. Davien 19 points, Davis 14 points, J.J. 13 points, Ziggy 12 points and Amare 8 points.
Thursday, March 6
The following afternoon, Tulalip faced off with #4 DeSales Catholic out of Walla Walla. Entering the game with a whopping (24-2) record, DeSales proved they were every bit as good as their 24 wins said they were.
Heritage held tough in the 1st quarter, where they only trailed by 3 points, 13-16, after eight minutes of play. But over the course of the 2nd and 3rd quarters, DeSales continued to outscore and outexecute the Hawks. Entering the 4th quarter, Tulalip trailed 38-54.
The 3-ball wasn’t falling for any Hawk outside of Davien, who made 3 of them, and made it impossible to rally enough points for a proper comeback attempt. The Hawks wings got clipped to the tune of a 51-68 loss. Davien led all scorers with 29 points and Ziggy chipped in 10 points.
Friday, March 7
Tulalip was left with no other choice but to shake off the previous day’s loss with the quickness because they had an early day tip-off with #7 Moses Lake Christian. Embodying the shooter’s mindset to the fullest was sophomore Amare Hatch. He went scoreless vs. DeSales, but in a matter of minutes he made she he got into the scorer’s book this game. Amare drained back-to-back 3-pointers that helped ignite his team’s early offense. Heritage took a 19-11 lead after one quarter of play.
Moses Lake wasn’t going to go away without a fight thought. They came back with a 2nd quarter onslaught that caught Tulalip off guard. Heritage trailed 26-29 at halftime.
In the 2nd half, it was a pair of sophomore sensations, J.J. Gray and Ziggy Myles-Gilford, who caught fire when their team needed them most. Both boys combined to score 32 of their team’s 41 2nd half points and helped propel their Hawks to a 67-54 win.
J.J. led the Hawks in scoring with 25 points, while Davien added 17 points and Ziggy 13 points. The fight and determination by the Hawks to continue their postseason journey is exemplified by a dominant 4th quarter in which they nearly scored twice as many points as Moses Lake.
The must-have win elevated the Hawks into the 4th place game.
Saturday, March 8
Tulalip’s favorite team of Rez ballers rose shortly after a sunrise for their final game of the ’24-’25 season. Tipping off promptly at 9:30am with a matchup with #3 Willapa Valley was no problem for a team full of young legs and a supply of seemingly endless energy.
It’s important to note that Heritage lost to Willapa Valley just eight days earlier, 53-66, in Chehalis. With that loss still fresh in their minds, the Hawks were primed for a classic get-back game.
In the 1st quarter, all five starters scored a basket. Coming off the bench, junior Tokala Black Tomahawk got in on the scoring spree as well to help his team jump out to a 20-15 lead. Both teams scored exactly 12 points in the 2nd quarter. This gave Heritage a 32-27 halftime advantage.
Forward Ziggy Myles-Gilford put on a show in the 3rd quarter while gobbling up rebounds and powering his way to the bucket for big time layups. Heritage’s defense put the clamps on all would-be scorers, playing some of their best discipled defense of the season. Willapa Valley only mustered a measly 6 points in the 3rd quarter, while the Hawks were soaring at their accustomed tempo and scored 18 points. At the end of three, Tulalip held a commanding 50-33 lead.
With their defense remaining locked in, Tulalip quelled any notion of a Willapa Valley comeback. While welcomed chants of “Tulalip Power!” rained down upon them, the boys were all smiles as they basked in a 64-46 victory. They capped off a truly memorable (22-5) season with a 4th place clinching performance to be proud of. Ziggy led all scorers with 17 points, J.J. 14 points, Davien 11 points and Davis 10 points.
After the tournament’s conclusion, junior guard Davien Parks was awarded one of the five coveted spots on the All-Tournament team.
“Our four days at state this year was great for my boys,” reflected head coach Shawn Sanchey. “We had fun out there doing our thing, gaining experience and going to battle in the Spokane Arena. Our team represented well and earned their hardware. We took home fourth place, which lands the second best placing in school history!
“It was tough not reaching the goal of winning it all, but we adjusted to the circumstances and set a new goal,” he continued. “It’s a great feeling that they buckled down to take care of business and bring home the 4th place trophy. This State experience builds character for us and deepens the motivation to do what it takes to reach that final goal next year. We plan to get a busy off-season summer schedule doing trainings, weight lifting, leagues and tournaments to help elevate our program and take it to the next level.”
For those devout Heritage fans already looking forward to next year, all the Hawks core players are expected to return, including all 5 starters. With a full State experience now under their belts and another year of program building for the Heritage coaching staff, expectations in 2026 will be even higher for a soaring group of Hawks who etched their names into school history with a 4th place trophy.