Kendall Toineeta, Lady Braves senior point guard, dribbled to the right past a defender and drilled a short shot from around three feet from the basket – something she’s done literally hundreds of times in her career.

The Cherokee Braves (16-0) remained unbeaten with a huge 65-21 win over the Blue Ridge Bobcats at home on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

Nikki and Sara Toineeta, both EBCI tribal members, competed recently in the Gala Women’s Gymnastics Meet held at the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville.

Cherokee’s Jaron Bradley, senior, took first place in the 152lb division at the James Orr Memorial Invitational Tournament held in Robbinsville on Saturday, Jan. 17.

Two teams representing the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians won championships at the NASA basketball tournament held in Cherokee on Jan. 16-17, and two more EBCI teams won second place.

Dustin Johnson, Braves senior point guard, scored the first five points of the game and just kept going as he led Cherokee to a 96-55 win at Swain on Friday, Jan. 16.

The Cherokee Lady Braves (14-0) remained unbeaten on the season with a big win at Swain on Friday, Jan. 16 as the Lady Braves topped the Lady Maroon Devils 87-35.

This is the first installment in a weekly sports column where I’ll highlight Cherokee athletes and coaches, provide some “insight” (or my take on insight) on games, sometimes discuss national sports news, and give my “sporting must-sees” for the weekend which will include my picks for live and televised events not to miss.