On Saturday afternoon, the last day of the Arctic Winter Games, I watched the junior male basketball final between Team Alberta North and Team N.W.T. at the Grande Prairie Regional College.

This is about the team that didn't win.

I was there with Dëneze Nakehk'o, a CBC North reporter, who was a member of the 1996 N.W.T. basketball team that finished second at the Arctic Winter Games.

On his day off, Nakehk'o was definitely not in the Grande Prairie Regional College gym as an impartial reporter.

No--he was a fan, cheering loudly, knowing each of the players by name. He was as a former player, proudly and nostalgically watching the N.W.T. playing in the gold ulu game (the traditional all-purpose cutting tool is handed out at the AWG instead of medals).

Nakehk'o told me that about half of this years' team come from small N.W.T. communities like Hay River, Tulita, and Fort Simpson. The rest come from Yellowknife.

Neil Barry, assistant coach of the N.W.T. stood nearby (only one coach is allowed on the bench).

He videotaped the game and adding his own excited commentary--"Shoot!"..."Foul!" ... "Come on boys! Two minutes left!"

Barry cheered the boys on with the complete enthusiasm even though, with two minutes left, the game was well out of reach.

Team Alberta North was dominant in the post, and Team N.W.T. wasn't able to find any open looks beyond the arc. Alberta North won it 72-56

(Earlier, in the women's final, Alberta North also edged out N.W.T. 75-66.)

Barry is from Tulita, which is about halfway between Yellowknife and Inuvik. He teaches at a school of around 160 students, from kindergarten to grade 12.

After the game, I chatted with Barry about what this opportunity has meant to the players from his community:

I also chatted with Jessee Brake, one of the players on Team N.W.T.

Later I spoke to Troy Enfield, a player on the team and Barry's nephew:

 (That was N.W.T head coach Shaun Doherty getting the victory shower.)

I know it's odd to focus on the team that didn't win the championship. But, to me, this was an incredible moment.

Wining the championship for the first time in AWG history would have been great for Team N.W.T.--but that wasn't what this was all about.

Call me sappy, or cliché, or whatever, but this is why sports are so amazing. It's indisputable. It really is about the "journey."

As Enfield said, it was like the Olympics to them. This was the kind of moment you never forget, even if you "lose."

Each member of both the female and male N.W.T. basketball teams, leave Grande Prairie with a silver ulu--which will hang on walls, or in trophy cases, gathering dust as the years go by.

But, really, those silver uluit will never lose their shine.