By ANNIE FOWLER, THE CUJ
BAKER CITY — Nixyáawii has been a fixture at the 1A state basketball tournament for years.
The Golden Eagles are making a return trip this week and will face Country Christian at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6, in the quarterfinals.
The Golden Eagles and Cougars met at the 1A preview in December, with Nixyáawii coming away with a 74-52 victory.
“You have to start new,” Nixyáawii coach Aaron Noisey said of the state tournament. “Everyone is there for a reason. They have earned their spot. If you look at their (Country Christian) losses, those are to teams at the state tournament. They have earned the right to be there. We can’t overlook them. We played them once and beat them, and I think they are much improved, but so are we.”
Nixyáawii Community School had a sendoff for the basketball team Thursday morning, and Tribal Police gave the team an escort out of town.
Over the past 10 years, the Golden Eagles have gone to state eight times, winning a title in 2019. They have placed second twice (2024, 2015), third twice (2020, 2016) and sixth twice (2022, 2023). They went 0-2 in 2018.
Nixyáawii (24-3) finished second at state last year, losing 65-51 to Crane in the championship game.
The Golden Eagles’ three losses this season are to 3A Umatilla (57-54), Mannahouse Academy (50-41) and Crane (84-60).
“There is nobody that hates to lose more than me, but I understand that it’s part of the game,” Noisey said. “Our losses have been to quality teams. I hate losing these games. You don’t want it to happen very often, but it happens.”
Nixyáawii ran the table in the Old Oregon League with a 10-0 record. It won the OOL district title, then dispatched Triangle Lake 117-38 in the first round of the playoffs. The Golden Eagles beat Southwest Christian 70-38 in the second round to reach the quarterfinals.
Nixyáawii is led by Old Oregon League player of the year Symon Picard, a senior guard who averages 21.5 points, 2.9 assists and three steals a game.
OOL first-team selections, seniors Rylen Bronson (14.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.0 steals) and Weptas Brockie (11.0 points, 49 three-pointers), complement Picard, as do sophomore Sun Schimmel and senior MJ Scott, who were second-team picks.
Scott, who has been injured, is healthy and should give the Golden Eagles a threat inside.
“We have a lot of dynamic players and special players, and MJ is in that mix,” Noisey said. “He rebounds, runs the floor and posts up and plays defense against a bigger person. When he is willing to do those things, we are a better team. When those five are clicking, they are hard to stop. When you key on one there are four more. You key on two, there are three left.”
The Golden Eagles also get quality minutes from sophomore Cashis Bevis and freshman Irvin Stewart.
The Cougars (21-7) are back in Baker City for the first time since winning their only title in 2015.
Country Christian finished second in The Valley 10 League behind Mannahouse Academy. Of its seven losses, five were to teams in the final eight in Baker City.
Country Christian is led by junior Tyson Smith (15.0 points, 4.0 assists), a Valley 10 League first-team pick. Juniors Danyon Schneider and Blake Halverson and sophomore Ryan Gordon are averaging about 10 points per game.
