Featured: March 15, 2024 Tribal Tribune
Edwina Pewo, 18, is a senior out of Hammon High School in Hammon, Okla.
(HAMMON, OK) Pouring her heart out into the sport she’s come to love, Cheyenne and Arapaho youth Edwina Pewo, 18, ended her senior year of basketball on a sentimental note.
Coming out from winning the state title last year, the 5-foot-6 shooting guard had high hopes of winning back-to-back championships. She entered the season hoping to win the state title once again in her senior year. However, the Hammon Lady Warriors fell short by one-point against Lomega in the semifinals 56-57.
Although Pewo ended her season with a different outcome, her high spirits of making her family proud will carry on.
Starting at a young age, Pewo began playing basketball in the third grade because she wanted to carry on the family tradition.
“I think I wanted to start playing because my family’s just a big basketball family. I was kind of motivated by them,” Pewo said.
And what she’s come to love the most about playing the sport of basketball is the friendships she’s made along the way.
“The friendships its brought me and how they made me closer to people and just the love I have for it,” Pewo said.
Through her time playing basketball, Pewo said her family has been her biggest inspiration for playing.
“They support me, they’ve been to every single one of my games and I think they just motivated me to play better,” Pewo said.
For the season, Pewo said she believes she contributed the most to her team by being unselfish on the court.
“I was not a selfish player at all, I got a lot of assists and I hit three’s when we needed them,” Pewo said.
As a player, Pewo has seen herself grow on the basketball court as she’s become more confident in her abilities.
“I’ve gotten way more confident with the way I play, because I never played like that, so I think this year was the year that I was like I’m going to let all the other stuff behind me and I’m going to play like how I want to play,” Pewo said.
In the beginning of the season, Pewo’s goals were to win the state championship back-to-back, however her biggest goal was to make her family proud through it all in playing the sport she loves.
“One of the main goals was to win, go back-to-back but we fell short of that, but one of the main goals was to make my family proud and I think I did that,” Pewo said.
Pewo gives credit to her family for supporting and helping her through basketball.
“Have a supporting family because without my family I don’t know where I would be and have God by your side because you wouldn’t be anywhere without Him,” Pewo said.
In her last year on the court, Pewo said although it makes her sad, she was ready to leave it all on the court by giving her all.
“I hoped to make my family proud and trying to win state again … it’s taught me to be thankful for what I have and that I’m blessed to be playing this sport,” Pewo said.
While keeping up with basketball, Pewo has managed to maintain an estimated 2.8 GPA, which she credits her teachers for helping her when needed.
“I keep up, well I ask for a lot of help from my teachers, like last year one of my teachers helped me a lot and I give thanks to her because I probably wouldn’t have had the grade I had last year without her,” Pewo said.
Stepping off the court for the last time, Pewo said basketball has brought happiness to her life and that she hopes to be remembered as a humble player.
“Playing basketball makes me feel happy, if I have a problem and I play basketball it makes my problems go away, basketball has brought me happiness,” Pewo said.
Hammon girls head basketball coach, Clay Conley described Pewo as a teammate that refuses to lose.
“She makes everybody around her better, great attitude, always smiling, super bubbly kid, on and off the floor and it makes it really enjoyable to be around her and makes it easy to be around her as a coach,” Conley said.
Conley said Pewo has started every game this season and has averaged seven points per game. Late in the season during the playoff run, Pewo played a huge part for the team.
“She’s stepped up like seniors should and did a lot of things for us down the stretch and had the best game of her season. In the last game of her career in the state semifinals she had 20 points for us and I’m really proud of who she’s become as a person and who she’s become as a player and looking forward to seeing what she does after high school,” Conley said.
In his first-year coaching for Hammon, Conley said a lot of the girls on the team stepped up throughout the season.
“We were able to win our five-county conference, was in the finals of two of our three tournaments for district, regional and area champions and made the semifinals before we fell short to the eventual state champion by just one point there in the semis, so really proud of my team and super proud of my girls,” Conley said.
For the season, Pewo shot 68% from the free throw line, had 94 total rebounds, 55 assists and scored 222 points in 31 games.
Set to graduate in the spring, Pewo hopes to further her education by attending college.
Edwina was raised by her aunt and uncle Wilbur and Edwina Bullcoming. Her grandparents are Margie and the late Edwin Pewo and her siblings include her twin brother Edwin Pewo and her younger brother Kenneth Pewo Jr.
By Latoya Lonelodge, Senior Reporter
Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal Tribune 