Basketball or Nothing (2019) s01e05 Episode Script
Win or Go Home
[Cooper.]
The day of the game, I just wanna focus.
Usually what I call it is, like, "zoning in".
Thinking of what I can do to win the game for the team.
[Raul.]
State playoffs starts tonight.
We're kinda anxious and kinda excited about it.
We wanna put it on the line, see how well we can do.
I told everybody to come in at three, but he wanted to come in earlier just to get some extra shooting done.
Put in.
So he's You know, now he's doing shooting.
Hopefully some of the others will be coming in pretty soon.
Ready? I feel nervous.
We used to come here in junior high, watching the games.
We used to look at those banners and we'd talk about getting to the state championship.
That's all I'm thinking about right now.
It means a lot.
I knew we would be in this position from the beginning of the year.
It all starts tonight, though.
Yeah.
Couldn't sleep last night.
Uh It was nice winning the regional tournament, but that's kinda small compared to the state championship, so It's nerve-wracking, but hopefully we play good you know, just go out with a bang.
[chuckles.]
[woman singing in Navajo.]
A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES [chorus singing in Navajo.]
Every year, they go as far as state, but they never won the state champion.
Hopefully, they do it this year.
Winning the state title around here? It's gonna be the greatest thing that ever happened to Chinle.
Because, even back in 1970, our basketball team went down there, they lost by two points.
This is the year, I think, for them to go all the way.
Yeah.
You know, that's what we're praying for and keeping our fingers crossed.
Let them come over and get my free burrito.
[both laugh.]
[Raul.]
When the state tournament gets here, things change.
It's one and done.
Either you play well, or you're done for the year.
It's just a fact that that's how it goes.
So, we have to be ready to accept the fact, win or lose, that's what it is.
[Julian.]
We open up the second round against American Leadership Academy.
From what we understand, they're gonna be big.
They're not gonna be very fast, but they are pretty big.
They're not used to the pace of play, and so for us, you know, that kinda has us licking our chops.
- [players shouting.]
- [shoes squeaking on court.]
We gotta run that pick and roll off this off four high and we'll get lay-ups.
We have a good idea of what we're coming against, and the only thing is the size.
Their guard that's listed as 6'7" is a sophomore, and their big man inside that, that's listed as 6'6", is a sophomore.
But maybe we can offset the size because of our quickness.
They're gonna play zone, zone, zone.
So You know? So I don't know how it's gonna affect We'll make some changes, and hopefully we can learn what we need to do.
I don't know how the kids will deal with the pressure.
But I know that Cooper, just watching him, he can do it.
I'm pretty confident in in this team and in myself.
I feel that we can we have everything in order to win it all.
We wanna make history.
I think that's that's every kid's goal.
Before we get to that championship game, we have to take it one game at a time.
Like that.
Right there.
[laughs.]
[announcer.]
Welcome to the Ganado Pavilion in Ganado, Arizona for the second round of the Arizona state playoffs, as the 6th seeded Chinle Wildcats take on the 11th seeded Patriots from American Leadership Academy.
[Raul.]
Hey, 33, he likes the right side of the block.
All they want to do is go right and lob it inside.
What we want to do with him is double him up, make sure you get rid of the ball.
Now, for us, we gotta get the ball out quickly.
This guy's gotta be sprintin', and then, hopefully, give and go and get a lay-up.
They're gonna block some shots, but don't worry about it.
Keep going at it, because they are long, but they're not that quick on their feet.
We've worked all year long, and right now we've got 32 minutes that we can go out there and play as hard as we can, as well as we can.
I know we can get the job done and just enjoy the challenge.
- Let's go, guys.
- Wildcats on three.
[all.]
One, two, three, Wildcats! [crowd cheering.]
[announcer.]
All you American Leadership Academy fans, let's hear you make some noise! [cheering.]
Chinle Wildcats fans, let's hear you make some noise.
[cheering.]
[all chanting.]
Ooh, aah, ooh, aah, ooh, aah Let's go! [commentator.]
It's the speed of Chinle against the size of ALA, an interesting match-up, with the winner moving on to the elite eight.
- [buzzer sounds.]
- Whistle blows.]
And we are underway.
[Raul.]
Outside, Coop.
Quick basket for the Patriots.
Hey! Watch the lob.
Chance Harvey with the drive.
- Rejected.
- [Raul.]
It's all right.
Stop the drive! That's another easy two for ALA.
Cooper Burbank for three.
No good.
The Chinle Wildcats have got to find a way to stop the bleeding.
[Raul.]
Help, help, help, help You've gotta deny that.
Another easy two for ALA.
Chinle simply has no answer for the size of ALA.
[whistle blows.]
And now Angelo Lewis picks up his first foul.
[Raul.]
Run forward.
That's the end of the first quarter, with the score ALA 17, Chinle four.
Hey.
Sit down.
Sit down.
Sit down.
Sit down.
Of course they're bigger than we are, but if we stop the hurl, they can't have it.
Make sure you step up and cut that hurl off.
Offensively, we gotta relax.
They're gonna block your shots, I don't care about that.
Run four high, something's gonna be open, okay? Gotta get good shots, we gotta make some stops.
Let's go.
[commentator.]
Chinle Wildcats a little shocked - after this early lead by ALA.
- [buzzer sounds.]
[Raul.]
Elijah, be ready.
Elijah James for two.
[Raul.]
Get it back! Get it back.
Let's go.
- [Julian.]
Let's go! - [Raul.]
Push.
Chinle with the rebound.
They're looking to run.
- Cooper Burbank for three! - [cheering.]
[Raul.]
Jump in, jump in.
Chance Harvey with the steal.
He passes up to Cooper for the lay-in.
- [Julian.]
Go! - [Raul.]
Go, go with it.
Cooper, pushing it up.
Get him off them! He goes right to the basket.
And a great finish over two defenders.
[Raul.]
Yeah! Ten seconds left in the half.
- ALA fires up a three.
- [buzzer sounds.]
That's no good.
And the Wildcats go on an impressive run in the second quarter.
They trail by just five at the half.
First quarter, we were so nervous we couldn't catch the ball.
We still haven't run the offense.
If we run the offense, they're gonna have to work to stop us.
If they do that, we're wearing them out.
They're subbing like crazy right now.
I don't know.
Are they gonna be able to sustain? You know, I think we are.
I don't think they're any better than teams we have played before.
Just gotta relax and play.
Play hard, and if the open shot's there, take it.
Okay? So let's do it, let's go.
- Let's do it right.
- Wildcats on three.
[all.]
One, two, three, Wildcats.
[commentator.]
The second half is underway.
[Raul.]
D-up, let's go! - ALA with the drive.
- No! Angelo Lewis picks up his third foul of the game.
He's the one initiated the contact.
And Angelo quickly picks up foul number four.
[Raul.]
Terrible! Hey.
You want my glasses? [woman.]
Call it both ways! You got four, I gotta get you out until fourth quarter.
How is that a foul? He jumped into me.
Well, that's an offensive foul, should be an offensive foul.
But they're not calling it.
[whistle blows.]
So, we go with four fouls? - Yep.
- Fourth quarter.
Okay, okay.
Fourth quarter, we'll go full throttle.
We're okay until then.
Five seconds left in the third quarter.
- ALA goes baseline, and it's good.
- [cheering.]
And the Patriots lead by eight with just one quarter left to play.
Things are not looking good for Chinle.
If you guys aren't gonna play, let me know, we'll get somebody else in there.
We're just killing ourselves.
We don't have a whole lot of time.
We gotta go out there and get it now.
We can't wait.
Lo, okay, Elijah Everybody's gotta do the job.
Everybody, let's go! [Julian.]
Go hard right here, fourth quarter, they'll be dead.
- Watch.
- Okay let's finish, let's go! - Wildcats on three.
- [all.]
One, two, three, Wildcats.
Hey, if he gets there, there ain't nothing you can do about it.
You gotta rely on your help.
Angelo Lewis is back in the game with four fouls.
Four high now, four high.
And it's Angelo with the lay-in, making an immediate impact for the Wildcats.
Loose ball.
It's Cooper Burbank with the jumper.
[Raul.]
Yeah! Chinle trailing by just four.
Cooper rips the ball away, and he's off to the races.
The lay-in is good.
And we're all tied up at 44.
What a comeback by the Wildcats! [Raul.]
Guys, they're a little tired.
We're right where we wanna be, but we gotta make our free throws, we gotta make our lay-ups, okay? Come on, let's go, guys.
Finish it.
There's a scrabble for the rebound.
Chinle gets it, ahead of Josiah Tsosie.
He's fouled and he hits the ground hard.
[woman screams.]
Josiah! [Raul.]
He's gotta for the ball! That's an intentional foul.
[woman yells.]
Siah! What you got? Siah? What you got? We need you, boy.
- My shoulder.
- Did you land right on it? Yeah.
I felt it crack.
[groans.]
We need you.
I'm all good.
[crowd cheering.]
[woman screams.]
Siah! Josiah! [announcer.]
Ladies and gentlemen, let's give it up for number 12, Josiah Tsosie.
[man.]
Come on! Yeah, move! Hey, high-low on offense, high-low, yeah.
Movement, movement.
- There you go.
- Cooper Burbank lays it in, and that is Chinle's first lead of the game.
You ready? Get Dewayne.
Back up a little bit on him.
[buzzer sounds.]
[commentator.]
Josiah Tsosie is checking back in the game already.
[announcer.]
Chinle, welcome back Josiah Tsosie! [Raul.]
Make sure we move on offense.
[commentator.]
Josiah and the drive, and the nice dish to Angelo Lewis for the lay-in.
[Raul.]
Move, move.
Cooper Burbank for three.
It's good.
- D-up! - Chinle with an incredible run to take an eight-point lead.
[man.]
Whoo-hoo! [Raul.]
Pass! Hey, no foul, no foul, no foul.
Chinle steals the inbounds, and that will do it.
A great comeback by these Chinle Wildcats.
They were down by eight after three quarters, but they win it by ten and are moving on to the state quarterfinals.
- [Raul.]
Well, we live for another day.
- [man.]
Yeah.
Everybody here, let's go.
- [all.]
One, two, three, Wildcats! - [man.]
Yeah! [commentator.]
The dream season continues for Chinle.
- [announcer speaking.]
- Whoa! [cheering.]
Third round.
Third round.
[Raul.]
Hey, listen, guys.
I don't know what to say, but here's the thing.
The way we played first half, we could have been blown out by 30.
I think we were scared.
And we can't be scared.
But, great job in second half.
You did what you had to do and got the job done.
Congratulations.
We move to the next round.
But if we get to that far, hey, why not go all the way? You gotta think that way.
And the way we played in the first quarter, I was gonna walk out the door and say, "Hey, never mind, we're not ready.
" But, hey, good job, okay? Let's break.
- Wildcats on three! - [all.]
One, two, three, Wildcats! - Make it - [Julian.]
Hey, before Hey, guys.
Fourth quarter, good job, you held them to five points.
Whoo! Slow! I feel like crap right now 'cause I'm, uh pretty tired, and my my shoulder.
He has a big heart for a little guy.
[chuckles.]
It doesn't matter how hurt he is, he'll keep playing, no matter what.
All the way to the buzzer.
It's the state play-offs, so I just wanted to do my best.
[Cooper.]
I didn't wanna end up going home early, so We don't wanna give up.
We just wanna come out with the win, ugly or pretty, whatever it takes to get a W.
- [player.]
Whoo! - [player 2.]
Whoo! [owl hooting.]
- Morning, Denise.
- Morning.
You have Mr.
Begay on the line.
- Okay, thank you.
- For you.
You're welcome.
[Shaun.]
Notah Begay III is the only full-blooded Native American to play in the PGA tour.
He was born and raised here, and I invited him to come out and speak to our boys' program, now that we're in the late season.
[beeping.]
Good morning, Notah, are you there? - Yes.
- [speaking Navajo.]
[Notah speaks Navajo.]
[in English.]
How's everything? - All is good.
How are you? - I'm great.
I heard you, uh, got a good old-fashioned rezball shoot-out last night.
Yeah, it was a crazy one.
We were down through three quarters and then our boys came around and, uh outscored them.
I think it was, like, 23 to five in the fourth quarter to to get the win.
Oh, that's great news.
We're about an hour out right now, headed up Route 7, and lookin' forward to spending some time with you and the kids, and I'm sittin' next to somebody here that I think they're gonna be really excited to meet.
- All right, drive safe.
See you soon.
- Thanks.
[Shaun.]
Notah's a pretty cool guy.
He does a lot of work with Native American students through his foundation.
He's coming, and we're really excited to see who he's bringing and share some of his wisdom about the way he grew up, and what he's done with his life.
[Notah.]
Well, Rick, we won't find too many golfers out here.
- Not many places to play.
- [laughs.]
Well, we'll find a lot of people that still know - Places to hit balls, just not to play.
- what you're doing in golf.
[Rickie.]
This is my first trip back to the reservation in a while.
Um The last time I was here was with my grandma.
Well, I've been coming back to the Navajo reservation, God, since I could walk.
My dad's a full-blooded citizen of the Navajo Nation.
My grandfather was a code talker in the United States Marine Corps.
My grandmother was born and raised on the reservation.
Learned a lot about the the culture through her.
This is part of who we are, so we might be able to make a difference in a few people's lives, which would be pretty cool to do.
- Back to high school.
- Yeah, here we go.
[Notah.]
Growing up on the rez is a series of challenges, and so, overcoming those hurdles to sort of make more opportunity for yourself, it becomes even more pressing.
Coach Mendoza.
- Ricky, Notah and Allison.
- How are you? Yeah, nice to meet you.
Coach Mendoza has a pretty, uh prolific career.
He coached with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
- I don't know.
It always comes up.
- [laughter.]
[Raul.]
I want to talk about these guys.
They're really special, I think.
They don't have a lot to say, but they're very talented and there's something unique about them.
And then, for the guys on the team, Notah here actually was on a team that won three? - Two.
- Two state titles in New Mexico at, uh, Albequerque Academy.
I just wanted to say how much of an honor it is to be here.
I mean, I get to showcase talented guys like Rickie.
I just want you guys to know there's a lot of Native athletes that make it to the highest level.
There's literally this many people ahead of him in the entire world in golf.
And that didn't happen overnight, as far as the work that he's put in, the dedication to his craft, overcoming the tough losses and trying to get better for him.
And those are the things that you guys, as young people, will have to endure.
Failure, hard times, um That never goes away.
But if you accomplish little goals along the way, it's kind of building character, and big mistakes typically don't happen more than once.
You learn from it and move on.
[Notah.]
Going through your high school career here, what's the hardest thing about growing up in the rez? Poverty.
I didn't grow up necessarily with a bunch of money or anything, but my parents made sure that I grew up to know the Navajo culture and way of life, how to work for things, and that's amazing.
Coming from the reservation, a lot of people think they're they're not really worth it, and when I hear about Natives being pro, it just makes me happy that they're representing their the culture and everything.
We're normal people.
I just happen to be a lot better at golf than a lot of people.
That's right! [laughing.]
[Shaun.]
Watching Cooper Burbank listen to Rickie and Notah was especially highlighted, because Cooper, I think, really would like to pursue, like, a D1 scholarship, maybe even something professional.
[Cooper.]
It was amazing, you know.
I feel like any Native can do it now.
I feel like I have the potential to do the same with my name, and do something with myself.
And that was a great feeling, bringing my confidence higher and higher.
And now, this year's team, I feel that we can win a state championship.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
[Josiah.]
It's pretty crazy.
You feel that motivation, and you're, like, "I'm gonna go out there and do this.
We can go win Chinle's first state champions for basketball.
" [boy.]
Yeah.
- Thanks, Rickie.
- You're welcome.
The students were just absolutely blown away, you know.
Here's two icons in Native American sports in the world, and it was wonderful to see the kids really take in their words of encouragement and support and walk away from that inspired.
Thanks for having us.
[Shaun.]
Thank you, Rickie, Notah and Allison.
[Raul.]
Right now, we're in the top eight.
After tomorrow night, there'll be four.
Against the American Leadership Academy, we gave up size, but I think, at some point along the line after the second quarter, we decided, "Hey, we're not gonna lose.
" When things were bad, you didn't get frustrated, or get discouraged, you kept on playing.
And you can't teach that, you know.
Let's break and go start practice.
- [boy.]
You showed up.
- Hey, go hard on the lay-ups.
Okay, using that pick will get you open shots or create something for us.
We're playing the number 19 team in the state.
They've had two upsets.
They should have been out, but they're still in the tournament, so as of right now, yeah, numbers don't matter, and if these boys decide to hold back a little bit, it might be too late.
Their best players, their Hoaks, he's about 6'3 ", 6'4".
He's pretty good, but but they don't have a bench.
Here you go.
- There you go.
- [groans.]
Damn.
It's still pretty sore, but I mean, it feels a lot better than yesterday.
Because, well, yesterday I just was icing it a lot and exercising it.
I shot around a little bit too, just to see how it feels.
[groans.]
All the way up, all the way up.
The pressure's on and Wickenburg's been upsetting some of the higher ranked teams, so hopefully, we can play our best and pull out the win.
Be mentally ready, be ready to go tomorrow, and again it's gonna be defense and working together as a group.
If you play defense like I always say that'll keep you in the game.
Some of you are still a bit tired, but tonight we'll get a good night's rest, be ready to go tomorrow.
Load up.
I think the bus should be here any time now.
Let's go.
Hard work.
Ready? - Everybody.
- One, two, three, hard work.
Aaah! Too weak, come on.
[Raul.]
To be the best in anything that you do, you have to have some high goals.
And for us, being on the reservation, making it to the final four, to the state championship, would be a big accomplishment, so that's why we try to get our kids to look beyond so that we can reach for that.
[player.]
We're all stars! [laughter.]
[Raul.]
In the long run, if we can accomplish these things, then they can go out there and be able to reach other goals.
[Chance.]
We take off, we get to our destination in the evening time.
It's just about a four-hour, three-hour drive, so it's pretty far, but the drive is worth it.
[player.]
Here we go.
Yeah! - Yeah! - Nice to see you! - Yo, about three of us.
- Phew.
The freshmen and the sophomores.
I put the two sophomores and the two freshmen together in one room.
Open up.
- He's a senior.
- He's gonna break the bed.
We don't let seniors in.
Young bloods only.
[chuckles.]
[Raul.]
Then I put the sen all the seniors together, and I had, uh Elijah and and Angelo, you can't separate those two.
We gotta remind them tonight, they've gotta get some sleep.
Yo.
Obviously They gotta, you know, go through their pre-game a little a little sooner Okay, I'm going swimming.
See you later, boys.
So that we're ready to go for that 3:45 game time.
They're not gonna be swimming or anything.
We didn't come for that.
After the game, maybe they can do that, but not now.
- No, you can't go swimming.
- Okay, bro.
What are we gonna do, then? Just chill? Netflix and chill.
[man.]
During the state time, the atmosphere really goes up.
It's who wants it the most.
It's kind of like It's more intense up there.
I started sitting across from the team in the '70s.
Sometimes, if I have to, I hitchhike to watch them play.
So it's assumed that I'm at a game all the time.
[chuckles.]
A few years back, some of the parents couldn't go to the games and stuff, so some of them kinda see me as the support of them.
The Chinle team, what they've been learning all these years is finally paying off for them.
So, always lookin' out for that.
When are they gonna make it all the way? When's that big moment gonna happen? I wanna be there for that, so that kinda keeps the drive going for me to go to the games, follow the team.
[Raul.]
Just trying to get the kids to understand that: hey, we win this one, we go to the final four, and then if we're in the final four, we have a chance.
I believe it's a mental thing.
You know, sometimes you have to convince yourself that this is possible.
But you've gotta go and work at it.
And, hopefully, we can believe that we can get the job done and help us to convince them, "Hey, we belong.
" Here's a roster we just need you to get filled out, please.
It means a lot to me and to the community of Chinle, 'cause they haven't been to the final four in a long time.
I know, deep down, it could be my last game if we mess up, but we don't want to lose yet.
Okay, now, listen, defense has gotten us here.
That's our biggest focus.
If we do what we're supposed to do, then our chances are good.
The rankings don't mean anything right now.
The only thing it means right now is that we're we're here.
[crowd cheering.]
We have to go out there and work hard, working together as a group.
[chanting.]
Ah, ooh, ah! Ooh, ah, ooh, ah, ooh! [yelling.]
[announcer.]
The Wildcats from Chinle.
[cheering and whistling.]
[Raul.]
They're bigger than we are and probably stronger than we are.
It's a challenge, another step toward where we want to be.
We have 32 minutes.
One of us will go home, one of us will continue.
Let's go get it.
[man singing in Navajo.]
Subtitle translation by Suzanne Gardent
The day of the game, I just wanna focus.
Usually what I call it is, like, "zoning in".
Thinking of what I can do to win the game for the team.
[Raul.]
State playoffs starts tonight.
We're kinda anxious and kinda excited about it.
We wanna put it on the line, see how well we can do.
I told everybody to come in at three, but he wanted to come in earlier just to get some extra shooting done.
Put in.
So he's You know, now he's doing shooting.
Hopefully some of the others will be coming in pretty soon.
Ready? I feel nervous.
We used to come here in junior high, watching the games.
We used to look at those banners and we'd talk about getting to the state championship.
That's all I'm thinking about right now.
It means a lot.
I knew we would be in this position from the beginning of the year.
It all starts tonight, though.
Yeah.
Couldn't sleep last night.
Uh It was nice winning the regional tournament, but that's kinda small compared to the state championship, so It's nerve-wracking, but hopefully we play good you know, just go out with a bang.
[chuckles.]
[woman singing in Navajo.]
A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES [chorus singing in Navajo.]
Every year, they go as far as state, but they never won the state champion.
Hopefully, they do it this year.
Winning the state title around here? It's gonna be the greatest thing that ever happened to Chinle.
Because, even back in 1970, our basketball team went down there, they lost by two points.
This is the year, I think, for them to go all the way.
Yeah.
You know, that's what we're praying for and keeping our fingers crossed.
Let them come over and get my free burrito.
[both laugh.]
[Raul.]
When the state tournament gets here, things change.
It's one and done.
Either you play well, or you're done for the year.
It's just a fact that that's how it goes.
So, we have to be ready to accept the fact, win or lose, that's what it is.
[Julian.]
We open up the second round against American Leadership Academy.
From what we understand, they're gonna be big.
They're not gonna be very fast, but they are pretty big.
They're not used to the pace of play, and so for us, you know, that kinda has us licking our chops.
- [players shouting.]
- [shoes squeaking on court.]
We gotta run that pick and roll off this off four high and we'll get lay-ups.
We have a good idea of what we're coming against, and the only thing is the size.
Their guard that's listed as 6'7" is a sophomore, and their big man inside that, that's listed as 6'6", is a sophomore.
But maybe we can offset the size because of our quickness.
They're gonna play zone, zone, zone.
So You know? So I don't know how it's gonna affect We'll make some changes, and hopefully we can learn what we need to do.
I don't know how the kids will deal with the pressure.
But I know that Cooper, just watching him, he can do it.
I'm pretty confident in in this team and in myself.
I feel that we can we have everything in order to win it all.
We wanna make history.
I think that's that's every kid's goal.
Before we get to that championship game, we have to take it one game at a time.
Like that.
Right there.
[laughs.]
[announcer.]
Welcome to the Ganado Pavilion in Ganado, Arizona for the second round of the Arizona state playoffs, as the 6th seeded Chinle Wildcats take on the 11th seeded Patriots from American Leadership Academy.
[Raul.]
Hey, 33, he likes the right side of the block.
All they want to do is go right and lob it inside.
What we want to do with him is double him up, make sure you get rid of the ball.
Now, for us, we gotta get the ball out quickly.
This guy's gotta be sprintin', and then, hopefully, give and go and get a lay-up.
They're gonna block some shots, but don't worry about it.
Keep going at it, because they are long, but they're not that quick on their feet.
We've worked all year long, and right now we've got 32 minutes that we can go out there and play as hard as we can, as well as we can.
I know we can get the job done and just enjoy the challenge.
- Let's go, guys.
- Wildcats on three.
[all.]
One, two, three, Wildcats! [crowd cheering.]
[announcer.]
All you American Leadership Academy fans, let's hear you make some noise! [cheering.]
Chinle Wildcats fans, let's hear you make some noise.
[cheering.]
[all chanting.]
Ooh, aah, ooh, aah, ooh, aah Let's go! [commentator.]
It's the speed of Chinle against the size of ALA, an interesting match-up, with the winner moving on to the elite eight.
- [buzzer sounds.]
- Whistle blows.]
And we are underway.
[Raul.]
Outside, Coop.
Quick basket for the Patriots.
Hey! Watch the lob.
Chance Harvey with the drive.
- Rejected.
- [Raul.]
It's all right.
Stop the drive! That's another easy two for ALA.
Cooper Burbank for three.
No good.
The Chinle Wildcats have got to find a way to stop the bleeding.
[Raul.]
Help, help, help, help You've gotta deny that.
Another easy two for ALA.
Chinle simply has no answer for the size of ALA.
[whistle blows.]
And now Angelo Lewis picks up his first foul.
[Raul.]
Run forward.
That's the end of the first quarter, with the score ALA 17, Chinle four.
Hey.
Sit down.
Sit down.
Sit down.
Sit down.
Of course they're bigger than we are, but if we stop the hurl, they can't have it.
Make sure you step up and cut that hurl off.
Offensively, we gotta relax.
They're gonna block your shots, I don't care about that.
Run four high, something's gonna be open, okay? Gotta get good shots, we gotta make some stops.
Let's go.
[commentator.]
Chinle Wildcats a little shocked - after this early lead by ALA.
- [buzzer sounds.]
[Raul.]
Elijah, be ready.
Elijah James for two.
[Raul.]
Get it back! Get it back.
Let's go.
- [Julian.]
Let's go! - [Raul.]
Push.
Chinle with the rebound.
They're looking to run.
- Cooper Burbank for three! - [cheering.]
[Raul.]
Jump in, jump in.
Chance Harvey with the steal.
He passes up to Cooper for the lay-in.
- [Julian.]
Go! - [Raul.]
Go, go with it.
Cooper, pushing it up.
Get him off them! He goes right to the basket.
And a great finish over two defenders.
[Raul.]
Yeah! Ten seconds left in the half.
- ALA fires up a three.
- [buzzer sounds.]
That's no good.
And the Wildcats go on an impressive run in the second quarter.
They trail by just five at the half.
First quarter, we were so nervous we couldn't catch the ball.
We still haven't run the offense.
If we run the offense, they're gonna have to work to stop us.
If they do that, we're wearing them out.
They're subbing like crazy right now.
I don't know.
Are they gonna be able to sustain? You know, I think we are.
I don't think they're any better than teams we have played before.
Just gotta relax and play.
Play hard, and if the open shot's there, take it.
Okay? So let's do it, let's go.
- Let's do it right.
- Wildcats on three.
[all.]
One, two, three, Wildcats.
[commentator.]
The second half is underway.
[Raul.]
D-up, let's go! - ALA with the drive.
- No! Angelo Lewis picks up his third foul of the game.
He's the one initiated the contact.
And Angelo quickly picks up foul number four.
[Raul.]
Terrible! Hey.
You want my glasses? [woman.]
Call it both ways! You got four, I gotta get you out until fourth quarter.
How is that a foul? He jumped into me.
Well, that's an offensive foul, should be an offensive foul.
But they're not calling it.
[whistle blows.]
So, we go with four fouls? - Yep.
- Fourth quarter.
Okay, okay.
Fourth quarter, we'll go full throttle.
We're okay until then.
Five seconds left in the third quarter.
- ALA goes baseline, and it's good.
- [cheering.]
And the Patriots lead by eight with just one quarter left to play.
Things are not looking good for Chinle.
If you guys aren't gonna play, let me know, we'll get somebody else in there.
We're just killing ourselves.
We don't have a whole lot of time.
We gotta go out there and get it now.
We can't wait.
Lo, okay, Elijah Everybody's gotta do the job.
Everybody, let's go! [Julian.]
Go hard right here, fourth quarter, they'll be dead.
- Watch.
- Okay let's finish, let's go! - Wildcats on three.
- [all.]
One, two, three, Wildcats.
Hey, if he gets there, there ain't nothing you can do about it.
You gotta rely on your help.
Angelo Lewis is back in the game with four fouls.
Four high now, four high.
And it's Angelo with the lay-in, making an immediate impact for the Wildcats.
Loose ball.
It's Cooper Burbank with the jumper.
[Raul.]
Yeah! Chinle trailing by just four.
Cooper rips the ball away, and he's off to the races.
The lay-in is good.
And we're all tied up at 44.
What a comeback by the Wildcats! [Raul.]
Guys, they're a little tired.
We're right where we wanna be, but we gotta make our free throws, we gotta make our lay-ups, okay? Come on, let's go, guys.
Finish it.
There's a scrabble for the rebound.
Chinle gets it, ahead of Josiah Tsosie.
He's fouled and he hits the ground hard.
[woman screams.]
Josiah! [Raul.]
He's gotta for the ball! That's an intentional foul.
[woman yells.]
Siah! What you got? Siah? What you got? We need you, boy.
- My shoulder.
- Did you land right on it? Yeah.
I felt it crack.
[groans.]
We need you.
I'm all good.
[crowd cheering.]
[woman screams.]
Siah! Josiah! [announcer.]
Ladies and gentlemen, let's give it up for number 12, Josiah Tsosie.
[man.]
Come on! Yeah, move! Hey, high-low on offense, high-low, yeah.
Movement, movement.
- There you go.
- Cooper Burbank lays it in, and that is Chinle's first lead of the game.
You ready? Get Dewayne.
Back up a little bit on him.
[buzzer sounds.]
[commentator.]
Josiah Tsosie is checking back in the game already.
[announcer.]
Chinle, welcome back Josiah Tsosie! [Raul.]
Make sure we move on offense.
[commentator.]
Josiah and the drive, and the nice dish to Angelo Lewis for the lay-in.
[Raul.]
Move, move.
Cooper Burbank for three.
It's good.
- D-up! - Chinle with an incredible run to take an eight-point lead.
[man.]
Whoo-hoo! [Raul.]
Pass! Hey, no foul, no foul, no foul.
Chinle steals the inbounds, and that will do it.
A great comeback by these Chinle Wildcats.
They were down by eight after three quarters, but they win it by ten and are moving on to the state quarterfinals.
- [Raul.]
Well, we live for another day.
- [man.]
Yeah.
Everybody here, let's go.
- [all.]
One, two, three, Wildcats! - [man.]
Yeah! [commentator.]
The dream season continues for Chinle.
- [announcer speaking.]
- Whoa! [cheering.]
Third round.
Third round.
[Raul.]
Hey, listen, guys.
I don't know what to say, but here's the thing.
The way we played first half, we could have been blown out by 30.
I think we were scared.
And we can't be scared.
But, great job in second half.
You did what you had to do and got the job done.
Congratulations.
We move to the next round.
But if we get to that far, hey, why not go all the way? You gotta think that way.
And the way we played in the first quarter, I was gonna walk out the door and say, "Hey, never mind, we're not ready.
" But, hey, good job, okay? Let's break.
- Wildcats on three! - [all.]
One, two, three, Wildcats! - Make it - [Julian.]
Hey, before Hey, guys.
Fourth quarter, good job, you held them to five points.
Whoo! Slow! I feel like crap right now 'cause I'm, uh pretty tired, and my my shoulder.
He has a big heart for a little guy.
[chuckles.]
It doesn't matter how hurt he is, he'll keep playing, no matter what.
All the way to the buzzer.
It's the state play-offs, so I just wanted to do my best.
[Cooper.]
I didn't wanna end up going home early, so We don't wanna give up.
We just wanna come out with the win, ugly or pretty, whatever it takes to get a W.
- [player.]
Whoo! - [player 2.]
Whoo! [owl hooting.]
- Morning, Denise.
- Morning.
You have Mr.
Begay on the line.
- Okay, thank you.
- For you.
You're welcome.
[Shaun.]
Notah Begay III is the only full-blooded Native American to play in the PGA tour.
He was born and raised here, and I invited him to come out and speak to our boys' program, now that we're in the late season.
[beeping.]
Good morning, Notah, are you there? - Yes.
- [speaking Navajo.]
[Notah speaks Navajo.]
[in English.]
How's everything? - All is good.
How are you? - I'm great.
I heard you, uh, got a good old-fashioned rezball shoot-out last night.
Yeah, it was a crazy one.
We were down through three quarters and then our boys came around and, uh outscored them.
I think it was, like, 23 to five in the fourth quarter to to get the win.
Oh, that's great news.
We're about an hour out right now, headed up Route 7, and lookin' forward to spending some time with you and the kids, and I'm sittin' next to somebody here that I think they're gonna be really excited to meet.
- All right, drive safe.
See you soon.
- Thanks.
[Shaun.]
Notah's a pretty cool guy.
He does a lot of work with Native American students through his foundation.
He's coming, and we're really excited to see who he's bringing and share some of his wisdom about the way he grew up, and what he's done with his life.
[Notah.]
Well, Rick, we won't find too many golfers out here.
- Not many places to play.
- [laughs.]
Well, we'll find a lot of people that still know - Places to hit balls, just not to play.
- what you're doing in golf.
[Rickie.]
This is my first trip back to the reservation in a while.
Um The last time I was here was with my grandma.
Well, I've been coming back to the Navajo reservation, God, since I could walk.
My dad's a full-blooded citizen of the Navajo Nation.
My grandfather was a code talker in the United States Marine Corps.
My grandmother was born and raised on the reservation.
Learned a lot about the the culture through her.
This is part of who we are, so we might be able to make a difference in a few people's lives, which would be pretty cool to do.
- Back to high school.
- Yeah, here we go.
[Notah.]
Growing up on the rez is a series of challenges, and so, overcoming those hurdles to sort of make more opportunity for yourself, it becomes even more pressing.
Coach Mendoza.
- Ricky, Notah and Allison.
- How are you? Yeah, nice to meet you.
Coach Mendoza has a pretty, uh prolific career.
He coached with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
- I don't know.
It always comes up.
- [laughter.]
[Raul.]
I want to talk about these guys.
They're really special, I think.
They don't have a lot to say, but they're very talented and there's something unique about them.
And then, for the guys on the team, Notah here actually was on a team that won three? - Two.
- Two state titles in New Mexico at, uh, Albequerque Academy.
I just wanted to say how much of an honor it is to be here.
I mean, I get to showcase talented guys like Rickie.
I just want you guys to know there's a lot of Native athletes that make it to the highest level.
There's literally this many people ahead of him in the entire world in golf.
And that didn't happen overnight, as far as the work that he's put in, the dedication to his craft, overcoming the tough losses and trying to get better for him.
And those are the things that you guys, as young people, will have to endure.
Failure, hard times, um That never goes away.
But if you accomplish little goals along the way, it's kind of building character, and big mistakes typically don't happen more than once.
You learn from it and move on.
[Notah.]
Going through your high school career here, what's the hardest thing about growing up in the rez? Poverty.
I didn't grow up necessarily with a bunch of money or anything, but my parents made sure that I grew up to know the Navajo culture and way of life, how to work for things, and that's amazing.
Coming from the reservation, a lot of people think they're they're not really worth it, and when I hear about Natives being pro, it just makes me happy that they're representing their the culture and everything.
We're normal people.
I just happen to be a lot better at golf than a lot of people.
That's right! [laughing.]
[Shaun.]
Watching Cooper Burbank listen to Rickie and Notah was especially highlighted, because Cooper, I think, really would like to pursue, like, a D1 scholarship, maybe even something professional.
[Cooper.]
It was amazing, you know.
I feel like any Native can do it now.
I feel like I have the potential to do the same with my name, and do something with myself.
And that was a great feeling, bringing my confidence higher and higher.
And now, this year's team, I feel that we can win a state championship.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
[Josiah.]
It's pretty crazy.
You feel that motivation, and you're, like, "I'm gonna go out there and do this.
We can go win Chinle's first state champions for basketball.
" [boy.]
Yeah.
- Thanks, Rickie.
- You're welcome.
The students were just absolutely blown away, you know.
Here's two icons in Native American sports in the world, and it was wonderful to see the kids really take in their words of encouragement and support and walk away from that inspired.
Thanks for having us.
[Shaun.]
Thank you, Rickie, Notah and Allison.
[Raul.]
Right now, we're in the top eight.
After tomorrow night, there'll be four.
Against the American Leadership Academy, we gave up size, but I think, at some point along the line after the second quarter, we decided, "Hey, we're not gonna lose.
" When things were bad, you didn't get frustrated, or get discouraged, you kept on playing.
And you can't teach that, you know.
Let's break and go start practice.
- [boy.]
You showed up.
- Hey, go hard on the lay-ups.
Okay, using that pick will get you open shots or create something for us.
We're playing the number 19 team in the state.
They've had two upsets.
They should have been out, but they're still in the tournament, so as of right now, yeah, numbers don't matter, and if these boys decide to hold back a little bit, it might be too late.
Their best players, their Hoaks, he's about 6'3 ", 6'4".
He's pretty good, but but they don't have a bench.
Here you go.
- There you go.
- [groans.]
Damn.
It's still pretty sore, but I mean, it feels a lot better than yesterday.
Because, well, yesterday I just was icing it a lot and exercising it.
I shot around a little bit too, just to see how it feels.
[groans.]
All the way up, all the way up.
The pressure's on and Wickenburg's been upsetting some of the higher ranked teams, so hopefully, we can play our best and pull out the win.
Be mentally ready, be ready to go tomorrow, and again it's gonna be defense and working together as a group.
If you play defense like I always say that'll keep you in the game.
Some of you are still a bit tired, but tonight we'll get a good night's rest, be ready to go tomorrow.
Load up.
I think the bus should be here any time now.
Let's go.
Hard work.
Ready? - Everybody.
- One, two, three, hard work.
Aaah! Too weak, come on.
[Raul.]
To be the best in anything that you do, you have to have some high goals.
And for us, being on the reservation, making it to the final four, to the state championship, would be a big accomplishment, so that's why we try to get our kids to look beyond so that we can reach for that.
[player.]
We're all stars! [laughter.]
[Raul.]
In the long run, if we can accomplish these things, then they can go out there and be able to reach other goals.
[Chance.]
We take off, we get to our destination in the evening time.
It's just about a four-hour, three-hour drive, so it's pretty far, but the drive is worth it.
[player.]
Here we go.
Yeah! - Yeah! - Nice to see you! - Yo, about three of us.
- Phew.
The freshmen and the sophomores.
I put the two sophomores and the two freshmen together in one room.
Open up.
- He's a senior.
- He's gonna break the bed.
We don't let seniors in.
Young bloods only.
[chuckles.]
[Raul.]
Then I put the sen all the seniors together, and I had, uh Elijah and and Angelo, you can't separate those two.
We gotta remind them tonight, they've gotta get some sleep.
Yo.
Obviously They gotta, you know, go through their pre-game a little a little sooner Okay, I'm going swimming.
See you later, boys.
So that we're ready to go for that 3:45 game time.
They're not gonna be swimming or anything.
We didn't come for that.
After the game, maybe they can do that, but not now.
- No, you can't go swimming.
- Okay, bro.
What are we gonna do, then? Just chill? Netflix and chill.
[man.]
During the state time, the atmosphere really goes up.
It's who wants it the most.
It's kind of like It's more intense up there.
I started sitting across from the team in the '70s.
Sometimes, if I have to, I hitchhike to watch them play.
So it's assumed that I'm at a game all the time.
[chuckles.]
A few years back, some of the parents couldn't go to the games and stuff, so some of them kinda see me as the support of them.
The Chinle team, what they've been learning all these years is finally paying off for them.
So, always lookin' out for that.
When are they gonna make it all the way? When's that big moment gonna happen? I wanna be there for that, so that kinda keeps the drive going for me to go to the games, follow the team.
[Raul.]
Just trying to get the kids to understand that: hey, we win this one, we go to the final four, and then if we're in the final four, we have a chance.
I believe it's a mental thing.
You know, sometimes you have to convince yourself that this is possible.
But you've gotta go and work at it.
And, hopefully, we can believe that we can get the job done and help us to convince them, "Hey, we belong.
" Here's a roster we just need you to get filled out, please.
It means a lot to me and to the community of Chinle, 'cause they haven't been to the final four in a long time.
I know, deep down, it could be my last game if we mess up, but we don't want to lose yet.
Okay, now, listen, defense has gotten us here.
That's our biggest focus.
If we do what we're supposed to do, then our chances are good.
The rankings don't mean anything right now.
The only thing it means right now is that we're we're here.
[crowd cheering.]
We have to go out there and work hard, working together as a group.
[chanting.]
Ah, ooh, ah! Ooh, ah, ooh, ah, ooh! [yelling.]
[announcer.]
The Wildcats from Chinle.
[cheering and whistling.]
[Raul.]
They're bigger than we are and probably stronger than we are.
It's a challenge, another step toward where we want to be.
We have 32 minutes.
One of us will go home, one of us will continue.
Let's go get it.
[man singing in Navajo.]
Subtitle translation by Suzanne Gardent