By Jacob Dimond
jake@yelmonline.com
The NyaStrong Warriors Academy (NWA) started its season off with a bang on Saturday, Nov. 23, as the fifth grade girls team won its first two games of the season, defeating the Howlers of Olympia, 46-5, and the previously unbeaten fifth grade Tumwater team, 30-10.
Over eight years after Nya Jaquez, a Yelm High School sophomore, passed away from her battle with signet ring cell carcinoma, an aggressive form of cancer, her name and legacy remains honored through local fifth grade girls competing in the NWA program.
NWA head coach Richard Durham said the transition from the summertime 3-on-3 season to the winter 5-on-5 season has been “seamless.” He contributes the smooth adjustment in competition solely to parents’ efforts and commitment to getting the girls to practice and games.
“We are very proud of our girls’ performance in our first two league games, not so much because we won, but for the effort leading up to those first two games. We only have five girls, so they have to play every second of every game,” Durham said. “We focus on being the most mentally and physically tough team on the court every time we step on it. It doesn’t matter if we’re playing against local or state level competition. What ensures that we do that is our girls take great effort in making sure our practices are harder than any game we will have.”
The coach added that even though the first two games of the season weren’t necessarily close contests, his team can still improve on the basketball court but the athletes are eager to attack those areas.
Athlete Kora Hadaller said she was proud of the team’s performance but agreed with her coach’s assessment about improvement.
“I think we played pretty good, but there are a lot of things we can improve on. Here’s the [aspects] we can improve: more passing, more screening and not dribbling with our heads down,” Hadaller said. “I think practice is harder [than games] because we work to our highest level, so the games are smooth sailing.”
Her teammate, Josi Winn, playing in her first season with the Warriors, agreed about practices being tough in the NWA program.
“Our practices are much harder than the games because we are working a lot harder in practice so that we can be prepared to take on any team together,” Winn said. “I think we did really well with our game[s]. We just need to work on better screens and getting into our positions quicker.”
Loreina Rosado-Jove, who previously competed in the NWA program in 2023, attributed to Durham the team’s work ethic on the court, at practice and in-game.
“Coach Richard taught us to play hard. Because of that, games seem to be easy for us,” Rosado-Jove said. “I think the team did amazing in the games last weekend. We took charge of the game, and no one could stop us from driving.”
Alasiah Noyes, who also competed for the NWA program in 2023, said the team did “OK” during the games last weekend. She said the team made many mistakes but also did a lot of things correctly on the court.
“For example, some of the bad things are how we weren’t always in position and we were letting them shoot. Some good things about the games were how we worked together on offense and how Josie was patient on when to throw the ball in,” Noyes said. “I think practice is harder than games because practice is teaching us what to do if something happens in the games. Practice is also harder than the games because coach is helping us not focus on just one thing but focusing on multiple things at the same time, which is hard. Practice is making games easier for us.”
Janna Perkins, who competed in the 3-on-3 season with the NWA program, echoed her teammates’ beliefs that they did well but still have aspects of the game they need to improve.
“My teammates did awesome, and they worked really hard,” Perkins said. “I think practices are harder than games because at practice, it is very intense, and practices are very difficult. The games are easier because it’s calmer than practice.”
The Warriors will compete in four games before Christmas break, including two on Sunday, Dec. 8, and two on Saturday, Dec. 14. NWA will hop back into league games on Saturday, Jan. 11, and Saturday, Jan. 25. The team also plans on competing in several tournaments in January and February.
