WSAD Warriors and Northwest Yellow Jackets capture NDBO 2026 National Championship

National Deaf Basketball Organization (NDBO) hosts the 17th Annual Men’s and 12th Annual Women’s National Basketball tournament in Tucson, Arizona, on June 4-6, 2026.

NDBO had 42 teams with 33 Men’s and 9 women’s teams over the weekend the tournament kicked off with Women’s Round Robin pool play #1 Tampa Sol defeating #6 Desert Storm 111-34, #2 WSAD Warriors defeated #5 Phoenix Valley 77-15, #3 The Bay defeated #4 Tucson Viuda Negra 58-40, 2nd round of RR games started with #5 Phoenix Valley defeated #8 Lady Marlins 64-36, #7 Des Moines Goldfinch narrowly beat #6 Desert Storm 42-41, #4 Tucson Viuda Negra defeated #9 Blazers 40-11. During the final RR games, #1 Tampa Sol smothered #7 Des Moines Goldfinch 107-38, #2 WSAD Warriors defeated #8 Lady Marlins (ended game after halftime) 78-11, #3 The Bay defeated #9 Blazers with a statement 59-3 rout. The round robin games results laid out the bracket setting with top 4 teams, Tampa Sol, WSAD Warriors, The Bay, and Phoenix Valley; meanwhile, the consolation brackets have Tucson Viuda Negra, Des Moines Goldfinch, Desert Storm, Blazers, and Lady Marlins.

Men’s Tournament first round kicked off with several games, #32 Gotham City defeated #33 Orange County Boyz 63-46, #17 Universal won by forefit of #16 Aura Force, #9 Elite defeated #24 Vipers 73-58, #8 DC Elite Hoyas defeated #25 Orlando Knights 94-38, #4 DMV Diplomats smothered #29 Southern Cal 134-27, #20 Sonoran Hoopers upset #13 Florida Spartans 64-57, #12 PNW Loud My Name defeated #21 Alamo City 93-73, #5 ATX defeated #28 Des Moines Stags 82-37, #2 SE Hoopstars defeated #31 Matrix 60-43, #15 Wisconsin Wolves smothered #18 Dallas Infinity 113-44, #10 District City 95ers defeated #23 Northwest Black Jackets 101-60, #7 LACD defeated #26 Wisconsin Wolfpack 76-28, #3 Naptown Hoosiers defeated #30 Geogria Bulldogs 79-46, #19 NERA Brotherhood upset #14 MinnePaul Loons 64-61 in a thrilling Overtime, #11 SSH defeated #22 Ballaz 46-21, #6 FSAD Bombers defeated #27 Madison 91-70, Lone bye team #1 Northwestern Yellow Jacket smothered #32 Gotham City 111-26.

Women’s Bracket play kicked off with Final Four games, #1 Tampa Sol smothered #4 Phoenix Valley 109-49, earning Tampa Sol a 3rd Straight National Champion game. #2 WSAD Warriors handled the uprising #3 The Bay 80-31. Consolation Bracket saw action with #9 Lady Marlins upset #8 Blazers 29-13, #7 Desert Storm avenged a win over #6 Des Moines Goldfinch with a statement win 34-10 victory, #9 Lady Marlins fell to #5 Tucson Viuda Negra 28-21 to set the consolation champion game between Tucson Viuda Negra and Desert Storm.

Men’s 2nd round of the tournament saw many wild finishes, most notably #15 Wisconsin Wolves went wire to wire to upset #2 SE Hoopstars 55-51, #1 NW Yellow Jackets defeated #17 Universal 100-18, #8 DC Elite Hoyas defeated #9 Elite 89-57, #4 DMV Diplomats defeated #20 Sonoran Hoopers 99-53, #5 ATX defeated #12 PNW Loud My Name in a heated Overtime 83-75, #10 DC 95ers handled #7 LACD 69-36, #3 Naptown Hoosiers had no problem handling rising #19 NERA Brotherhood 85-55, #6 FSAD Bombers defeated #11 SSH 67-59.

Women’s Consolation Champion game was a thriller game that sent double overtime, with Desert Storm scratching for a victory over the local team, Tucson Viuda Negra. They were in a heated battle, and Desert Storm came out with a 34-31 Victory to claim the 2nd straight Consolation Champion and a free berth to NDBO 2027 in Indiana.

Men’s Elite Eight games kicked off with the top 8 teams battling to the finish, #1 NW Yellow Jackets had no problem defeating #8 DC Elite Hoyas 87-66, #4 DMV Diplomats escaped a win over #5 ATX with a score of 76-70, #10 DC 95ers smothered hobbling #15 Wisconsin Wolves 90-68, #3 Naptown Hoosiers battled with experienced #6 FSAD Bombers and ran away with a 79-73 victory to earn all 4 teams a Final Four berth.

Men’s Consolation Bracket saw several actions, SE Hoopstars roamed into a battlefield and got into the Consolation Champion game, meanwhile Matrix fought through games to reach the Consolation Champion game as we saw action between 2 teams fighting for the Consolation Champion, SE Hoopstars narrowly beat Matrix with a score of 28-25 to earn their Consolation Champion and a free berth to NDBO 2027 in Indiana.

Men’s Final Four game saw action with #1 NW Yellow Jackets facing off with #4 DMV Diplomats with short players of Diplomats, NW was able to handle them with their full lineup and defeated DMV with score of 73-59 to earn first ever National Champion Berth, on other side of Final Four, DC 95ers faced off with Naptown Hoosiers with a long day of games Hooisers came up short with players injuried with cramps, 95ers came out with a victory over the Hoosiers 80-66 to earn 3rd straight National Champion berth.

Men’s 3rd place game on Saturday saw action between #4 DMV Diplomats and #3 Naptown Hoosiers, both teams battled wire to wire til the end. Diplomats escaped with a win over the Hoosiers 64-56, earning DMV Diplomats a 3rd place finish at NDBO.

Women’s 3rd place game on Saturday also saw action between #3 The Bay versus #4 Phoenix Valley. The Bay had a good game and handled them with a 55-32 victory, earning them a 3rd place finish at NDBO.

Women’s National Champion game kicked off with the top 2 teams, Tampa Sol and WSAD Warriors. Warriors started off with a spurt of runs over Sol and kept the lead throughout the game. WSAD Warriors defeated Tampa Sol 78-51, sending WSAD Warriors to their first-ever NDBO National Championship. Coach Dino Lomanto received Coach of the Tournament, and Jada Zarembka received MVP. Congrats to the WSAD Warriors!

Men’s National Champion game kicked off with #1 Northwest Yellow Jackets facing off against #10 District City 95ers, both teams battled throughout the game with several foul troubles pinning NW to tight spots, game went wire to wire to end of the 4th quarter when NW capped off with a 3 point shot to send them to overtime game, both teams were also visbilly exhausted in the game and it went to double overtime, NW Yellow Jackets found a way to edge 95ers missed shots and capped off with a 69-62 finish earning Northwest Yellow Jackets a first ever NDBO National Champion. Coach Craig Radford earned Coach of the Tournament, and Michael Lizarraga received MVP. Congrats to Northwest Yellow Jackets!

Players’ Awards will be announced in a couple of weeks from the NDBO Tournament. We would like to thank you to city of Tucson for allowing us to host at the Sporting Chance Center. We also thank all the volunteers who helped out with the tournament to make it a successful turnout, and we thank all 7 regions (CAAD, EAAD, FAAD, MAAD, NWADB, SEAAD, and SWBAD) for helping out in several areas in the tournament as well. SEE YOU NEXT YEAR AT INDIANA!

NDBO Board has been re-elected for another term with President Alberto Jimenez, Vice-President Dino Lomanto, Secretary Ivan Jarama, Treasurer Rachel Brafford, Communication Director Jesse Crawford, and Tournament Director Paul LeCroy.