Copyright © 2006 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Students from Sequoyah High School cheer on the boys and girls basketball teams as they prepare to leave for state tournament play this weekend in Oklahoma City.

TAHLEQUAH, OK – The Sequoyah High School (SHS) girls' and boys’ basketball teams received a royal send off as they left for Oklahoma City to play in the Class 3A State Basketball Championship Tournaments.

“It’s not only about their athletic achievement, but their leadership style and sportsmanship when they are winning and when they don’t,” said Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. “These are the kind of young people you can be proud of on and off the court.”

The excitement and pressure of tournament games are nothing new to these SHS athletes. The SHS Indians and Lady Indians both played in last year’s state tournaments. The Lady Indians came home with first place and the Indians placed second. Both teams have grown in strength over the years.

Tournament play begins on Thursday, March 9 and takes place in Oklahoma City. The Indians play on Thursday at 2 p.m. at Moore High School and the Lady Indians play that evening at 8:30 p.m. at Southern Nazarene University.

If both teams win, their next games will be on Friday, with the Indians playing at 11:30 a.m. at the Fairgrounds and the Lady Indians playing Friday night at 8:30 p.m. at Southern Nazarene University . The Championship games will be played at the Fairgrounds on Saturday, with the boys playing at 12:30 p.m. and the girls playing at 5:45 p.m.

Sequoyah High School "Home of the Indians!" P.O. Box 520, Tahlequah, OK 74465             Sequoyah High School Alumni P.O. Box 187, Park Hill, OK 74451-0187 Sequoyah High School, an Indian boarding school, originated in 1871, when the Cherokee National Council passed an act setting up an orphan asylum to take care of many orphans that came out of the Civil War. Sequoyah High School's approximate 300 enrollment represents 42 tribes and 14 different states. Students are eligible to attend if they are members of federally recognized Indian tribes or one-fourth blood descendants of such members.