For the young Kotzebue boys' team, it was a valuable learning experience and the team Sportsmanship Award. For the Husky girls, it was their first Regional championship in recent memory.

The true stars of the weekend were the special Barrow residents who organized and ran the tournament, the enthusiastic fans that attended the games, and the outstanding school staff. By all accounts, the visitors enjoyed just amazing hospitality.

A special example of that hospitality came courtesy of Oliver Leavitt, who treated our girls' team to lunch and gave up four hours of his Sunday to drive the girls on a personalized tour of Barrow. And that was AFTER our Huskies had defeated the Barrow girls on consecutive nights by identical two-point margins!

Last year when our girls traveled to Barrow, Oliver took them on a guided tour of the local museum. He's a great ambassador for the North Slope.

The school staff provided great meals and excellent security in the facility. They also gave teams bottled water on the benches, free video production of their games, and information about other tournaments being played around the state.

All in all, it's been a great year for 3-A basketball in the northern part of our region. On the girls' side, Kotzebue, Barrow and Nome finished first, second and third. On the boys' side, it was Barrow and Nome as the top two.

The state tournament will have ended when this report is printed, but I know that our area will be well represented. High school basketball was a big part of my life growing up, and I know how much it means to all the players, their families and their whole communities.

I am thankful that we have good gyms in most of our villages and I will be even more grateful when they all have them.

Again, I'd like to tell Barrow that we truly appreciated their hospitality. Best wishes to all of you.