Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Ivy Lamebear in action for the Hoopa Warriors this season.

By Ray Hamill — It was a senior season Hoopa’s Ivy Lamebear will cherish for many reasons.

The Warriors standout recently closed out an impressive four-year varsity career on the basketball courts when the Hoopa girls lost their North Coast Section quarterfinal at Sonoma Academy, 62-60, in a game that went right down to the wire.

Despite the loss, it was a memorable campaign for the team, and in particular for Lamebear, who hit a big milestone in the Warriors’ first playoff game against Tamalpais.

That was the Warriors’ first home playoff game since 2009 and one of just five they played at Hoopa all winter, and Lamebear scored 18 points in a 61-49 win to surpass the 1000-career point mark.

And she did it in front of a home crowd, which was particularly gratifying.

“It was great,” Lamebear said of the occasion. “I like playing in front of my family, and there were a lot of people there.”

While the playoff win and milestone achievement were special, this journey began a long time ago for this multi-sport standout.

Lamebear has been playing basketball for about as long as she can remember and always took to sports, competing in volleyball and softball for much of her young life.

But she admits basketball has always been her favorite of the three and when she got to high school she sacrificed softball in order to focus more on hoops.

“Basketball is my favorite,” she said. “It helps me keep my mind together whenever I’m sad.”

And she can thank a former WNBA star for helping her career.

Submitted photo – Ivy Lamebear was named MVP of two early-season tournaments she played in with the Warriors.

Before she began playing in high school, Lamebear trained with Shoni Schimmel, who played several years with the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA.

Schimmel is a close friend of Lamebear’s mother, Lovae Blake, and she lived with the family for a while, inspiring the young player and helping her develop her game when she was young.

“I looked up to Shonni as a kid because she was a Native American WNBA player that got drafted from Louisville to Atlanta Dream,” Lamebear said of the 2014 WNBA All-Star Game MVP.

The relationship paid big dividends for Lamebear, who would have an immediate impact with the Warriors when she began her high school career.

In her four years at Hoopa Valley High, she would establish herself as one of the most dangerous players in the Little 4, while earning the respect of her teammates and opposing players and coaches.

This year was her best yet in a Warriors uniform, in more ways than one. 

“I feel like I grew as a player and started to step up more as a leader,” said the two-year Hoopa team captain.

Submitted photo

Lamebear also got the opportunity to play varsity basketball with her sister, sophomore Wau’Kel Blake, which was an experience she cherished, even if she jokingly describes their bond as a “love, hate relationship.”

“We’ve been playing together for two years. Unfortunately that’s the last time we’ll play together until college,” said Lamebear, who hopes to take the court with her sister once again someday at the next level. “It’s really great to play with your sister.”

As for her immediate plans now that her high school playing days are over, Lamebear says she is looking into a couple options right now but definitely wants to continue playing on the college courts, probably at a JUCO.

“I want to keep playing basketball as long as I can, especially being a Native American,” she said. “We don’t really get that much recognition.”

Lamebear certainly takes tremendous pride in her Native American heritage and spent some time last summer competing at the Native American Basketball Invitational in Arizona, the largest Native American basketball tournament in the nation.

“I loved it,” she said of the experience. “I love playing against other Native Americans. The atmosphere is way different.”

Rezball, which is short for reservation ball, is a fast-paced brand of basketball that Lamebear and many Native Americans have embraced.

“It’s fun,” she said. “I just love being out in that atmosphere. It’s a way faster game for me.”

And that clearly has helped her become the player she is and helped her achieve what she has in high school.

But basketball isn’t the only thing Lamebear will remember from her time at Hoopa High.

“Probably the thing I’ll remember the most is all the van rides with my teammates,” she said with a chuckle. “We traveled so much this season.”

Lamebear added that in addition to Schimmel, her parents, Lovae Blake and Jake Blake, have both been a big influence on her playing career.

“It was fun playing at Hoopa Valley High School,” she said.

Submitted photo