Colville Tribal members Chantel Heath, Chenise Peone cross paths in college basketball

Central Washington’s Chantel Heath and Hawaii-Pacific’s Chenise Peone are proud members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.

Their connection did not result in the scheduling of the NCAA Division II matchup between Central Washington and Hawaii-Pacific in Nampa, Idaho, on Nov. 15, but the culmination of a two-day set of games at Northwest Nazarene will be a rare intersection between members of the same American Indian tribe in college athletics.

“Most people don’t get the opportunity to play against a fellow member of their tribe in this level of college,” Heath, a 19-year-old sophomore, said. “This matchup will be really great and it’s getting more people aware that you can chase your dreams and become a college basketball player.”

“It’s going to be different,” said Peone, a 22-year-old senior who transferred to the Honolulu school after deciding to leave Eastern Washington University and taking a yearlong hiatus from basketball. “We both have a lot in common.”

Both are living blueprints for area American Indians hoping to play at the next level.

Heath was a part of three State 2B championship teams as the point guard for Reardan before being recruited to play at Central Washington in Ellensburg.

As a high school freshman, Peone (maiden name Pakootas) helped lead Class 1B Inchelium to its best finish in school history, fourth at state, before transferring to University High School for two seasons and finishing her high school career a State 4A runner-up at Mead in 2010.

They also represent the broken dreams of their families.

Heath’s father, Mike, quarterbacked the 8-man Inchelium Hornets to a state championship in 1991. Her mother, Deanna, was a standout basketball player at Wilbur-Creston.

“She told me that she was gonna play college basketball and chose not to,” Heath said. “I wanted to fulfill those shoes and be a college basketball player as well as be the first in my family to play a collegiate sport.”

Out of high school, Peone’s father, Joe Pakootas, had a scholarship to play football at Eastern Washington, but did not attend after his wife became pregnant with their first child, she said. A few years later, he unsuccessfully tried out for the Seattle Mariners in Spokane. Along with wife Cheryl, they have raised two previous college basketball sisters in Chrystal (UCLA, Big Bend Community College) and Chelsi (Blue Mountain Community College). Chrystal was injured in her first year at UCLA and transferred to Big Bend. Chenise will be the first four-year athlete in the family.

“Because (my parents) went through all the hardships growing up,” said Peone, whose father was once in foster care, “they made it easy for me. I want all the parents on the rez to see their story. It’s my parents and it’s the rez and it’s the goodness of the parents.”

Though they are both enrolled in the more than 9,400-member tribe, their knowledge of each other is limited. They have twice competed against each other in all-Indian tournaments, Heath said. During AAU, Peone recalled spending the night at the Heath home in Davenport.

“Our background is a lot alike,” Peone said. “She stayed at a smaller school, I went to a bigger school. She’s a stud, a repeating state champ. That’s good for her.”

“I know of her story,” Heath said of the elder Peone’s journey. “Whatever made her happy that’s great and she got to where she wanted to get.”

On the court, they are both accustomed to guard play, though their roles are expected to change this season, according to their coaches.

The 5-foot-6 Heath will find playing time at shooting guard, said Central coach Jeff Harada, hired from the Naval Academy to lead a Wildcats program that finished 2-16 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2013.

“We’re looking at playing her at the ‘2’ position because of her scoring ability,” he said. “She’s been very receptive to that and excited. I think she’ll do whatever it takes just to play. I see a totally different focus from her.”

While she aspires to lead the turnaround as the floor general, Heath, who started one game last season and averaged 10 minutes, said she is excited for the challenge.

“It’s something that I’ve had a little bit of experience doing,” she said. “I’m looking forward to having more range shooting, attacking and getting the ball to my teammates as well.”

The 5-9 Peone is accustomed to scoring. At Eastern, she was an off-and-on starter who led the Big Sky Conference in 3-point field-goal efficiency as a sophomore at 40.2 percent. This season, however, she expects to be a jack-of-all-trades, playing from point guard up to power forward. She also will serve as team captain, coach Reid Takatsuka said.

“She’s gonna play a lot of minutes,” said the coach, whose Pacific West Conference team has won at least 18 games in each of the past three seasons. “Her main strength is she’s a great shooter. I think the success of our team is going to be in large part due to her abilities: She’s a strong player, very talented; she has all the intangibles to be a great basketball player.”

As one of Hawaii-Pacific’s tallest players, Peone expects to do a lot of running in order to outmatch teams that outsize them.

“It’s a lot like rez ball to me,” she said, noting the fast-paced, run-and-gun style of play on Indian reservations. “Our team’s all about running. We had a scrimmage and killed the other team because we got layup after layup.”

Leadership is in their blood. In 2002, Peone’s father was chairman of the Colville Business Council while Heath’s grandmother, Jeanne Jerred of Keller, Washington, served as vice-chairwoman. Jerred became one of the few women in the tribe’s history to serve as chairwoman in 2008. Joe Pakootas, of Inchelium, lost to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers in this year’s Fifth District congressional race.

But serving as role models comes with great responsibility, they have found. Whether it’s Honolulu or Ellensburg, the Colville women understand the importance of what their success means to tribal youth back home and across Indian country.

“I never thought that I would be one to be a huge role model for tribal members,” Heath said. “It makes me smile that I’m out here doing what I love and am able to inspire other kids to chase after their dreams.”

“Representing Natives and the Colville Tribe has always been a huge motivator for me,” Peone said. “The things you do, the things you say, it all reflects on where you come from and I never forgot that.”