While NCAA March Madness basketball tournaments get underway across the country, the Mission Valley will have its own collegiate representatives vying to catch some breaks among brackets less familiar to most. The Lady Bison women and the Bison men basketball teams of Salish Kootenai College (SKC) will seek to bring home some hardware from the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) national basketball tournament this weekend, which is being held at Little Big Horn College.

Pool play gets underway on Thursday, March 21, to determine seeding for the bracket competition segment.

The SKC Bison men have won eleven AIHEC championships through the years and are aiming for an even dozen this time around. The SKC Lady Bison women have notched seven AIHEC championships, but for them, eight would be great.

Both teams have modified their level of competition by scheduling NAIA varsity teams during the course of the regular season. Although they often end up on the short end of the scoreboard, the caliber of play they have faced is good preparation for what they will likely encounter at the tournament.

Bison men’s coach Zach Camel said the rationale behind the shift in type of competition is “we want to see the best teams. It helps us sharpen our skills.” Coach Camel said, “they are peaking at the right time ... and are ready for battle.” A snippet into some of the types of game strategies they may employ include a three-pronged attack of veteran Tisen Fryberg, Kenny Louie-McGee and Will Mesteth, who are contributing in the 20s, which will include a lot of threes. The inside game tends to revolve around Jeremiah NorthPiegan and Tristen Redhorn perusing the paint while pounding the glass. Clayton Whiteman and Jalen Croft are crafty ball handlers who know how to run the offense.

Will Mesteth, who are contributing in the 20s, which will include a lot of threes. The inside game tends to revolve around Jeremiah NorthPiegan and Tristen Redhorn perusing the paint while pounding the glass. Clayton Whiteman and Jalen Croft are crafty ball handlers who know how to run the offense.

Lady Bison women’s coach Silas Perez has coaxed his players through some of the discouraging aspects of competing against teams loaded with scholarship recruits, but has focused on the silver lining of playing these tougher NAIA teams by pointing out how these games force the team to sharpen their skills in such a way that they will be able to compete more effectively against a comparable caliber of competition like they are liable to encounter in the AIHEC tournament.

Selective SKC Bison bio briefs

Tisen Fryberg, 2x AIHEC champion

Jeremiah North Piegan, Polson, class of 2017 (all-conf 1st-tm)

Will Mesteth, Arlee, class of 2018 (2x all-trny (1st-tm), 2x all-state (1st-tm), 2017-18)

Kenny Louie-McGee, brother of gridiron Griz WR Jerry Louie-McGee.

Selective SKC Lady Bison bio briefs

Lauren Lefthand, Polson, class of 2017 (all-conf 2nd-tm 2016-17)

Nina Orozco-Charlo,Ronan/Polson/Two Eagle (all-conf hm 2009-10)

Ashley Tryon, Charlo, class of 2016), TF 2016 Western C Divisional: disc 7th 91-02 (102-08pr), sp 12th 27-0/2015div: disc 8th 87-11

Ione Chimburas (Lapwai, Idaho), part of Idaho state championship teams with Taylor Whitney, part of 2018 Flathead Lake 3-on-3 women’s division winner Legends with Malia Hamel, Lee Camel and Lauren Lefthand

Braylee Stone, 2018-17 2x AIHEC All-Tournament,

Verlina Whiteman, played on 2017 AIHEC team

2019 AIHEC National Basketball

Tournament

Little Big Horn College (LBHC)

Crow Agency, MT

March 20-24, 2019

Pool Play Men

SKC vs Oglala Lakota Th.12pm

Leech Lake vs SKC Th.2pm

Northwest Indian vs SKC Th.5pm

Pool Play Women

SKC vs LittleBigHorn Th.11am

Navajo Tech vs SKC Th.3pm

SKC vs Fond du Lac Fr.11am

Bracket competition Fr.pm thru Sat.

Pool play record divide teams into two divisions

standardized seeded bracket competition thereafter