File photo – Hoopa’s Tatianna Colegrove

A  challenging early-season schedule appears to be paying off for the Hoopa Warriors on the basketball court.

After tipping off the season with five straight games against Big 5 schools, four of which they lost, the Hoopa girls traveled to South Fork to play at the Gene Cotter Memorial Tournament this week and set new standards for the program.

On Thursday, they cruised to a 101-19 win over Round Valley and they followed that on Saturday with an 85-16 win over the host school to clinch the tournament championship.

Head coach Floyd “Cowboy” Billings insists his team did not intentionally rack up the score in either game, but rather that his players were in the zone offensively.

“It was a shooting display,” the coach said. “They were taking good shots and they were falling. We shot 90 percent in the fourth quarter (on Thursday).”

Tashee Tracy scored 38 points in Thursday’s win, while Ivy Lamebear finished with 31 points.

Influential senior Tatianna Colegrove also had a huge night in the win and was just one assist shy of a triple-double, finishing with 17 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.

“I think that’s the first time the Hoopa girls have ever scored 100 points,” the head coach said. “The girls played good. We scored 186 points in two games. That’s not bad.”

Remarkably, they did it with just seven players on hand for the tournament, with four of the roster missing for various reasons.

And that meant multiple starters had to remain in the game.

Tracy added 24 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday’s win and was named tournament MVP.

Harmony Nelson added 18 points, while Colegrove finished with 17 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists and four steals.

Both Nelson and Colegrove were also named to the all-tournament team.

File photo

Also on Saturday, Tahlia Tracy had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Lamebear had seven assists, six steals and six points,

The back-to-back victories lift the Warriors to 3-7 and the performances will give the players a boost with league play now less than three weeks away.

The Warriors will have their hands full in league play against both Ferndale and St. Bernard’s, each of which has looked very good early in the season.

But Billings believes his team can match them both stride for stride in this year’s Little 4.

“We have played Division-3 and 4 schools because we’ve played the Big 5 schools, and we weren’t losing by much,” the coach said. “We’re building. Right now, the way we’re playing, I think we can hang with both (Ferndale and St. Bernard’s).”

Next up, the Warriors will host Etna on Tuesday night.