After a breakout junior season, Desert Edge girls basketball player Mackenzie Kinsel was accepted into the Native Top 50 Camp where she exceeded expectations.

The Native Top 50 Camp is a girls basketball camp that takes applications from Native Americans across the nation, and selects 50 players based on their resumes and coach recommendations.

“I’m really proud because her hard work has really paid off,” Desert Edge basketball coach Heidi Behnke said.

Kinsel, who represented Navajo Nation, finished the camp ranked as the fifth best player, according to D1 Nation.

“I’m really happy that she got the opportunity to go do that,” Behnke said.

Kinsel learned about the camp and was encouraged to apply from Ephraim Sloan, the club coach for her all Native American team, Run n’ Gun.

“I still can’t believe she went. It’s like, did that really happen?” Kimberlee Kinsel, Mackenzie's mother, said laughing.

While the camp was a great opportunity in her basketball career, it was also a chance for Kinsel to step outside her comfort zone.

“People far away from home actually went there so it was a good experience to feel what it would be like to be far away from home,” she said. “That’s why I really wanted to go.”

The camp’s unique relationship with Native Americans across the country is something that the Kinsel family was drawn to.

“We try to stay connected to the (Native American) tradition,” Kimberlee said. “Just because that’s basically where her roots are going to be at.”

“I’m really in depth with the culture,” Mackenzie added. “I’m really passionate about my tribe.”

Part of what led up to Kinsel’s breakout season and getting invited to the selective camp was her scrappy style of play.

“She’s the type of kid that would run through a wall for you and just go 100 percent all the time,” said Behnke.

Kinsel’s mom said she has gotten comments that she “plays res-ball” from people at games and tournaments. “Res-ball” is the tough and determined way that Native Americans are perceived to play basketball, according to Kimberlee.

Another main contributor Kinsel's breakout season was the addition of the three-point shot to her game.

Kinsel said that she was “kind of scared” to add this to her style because she was more used to scoring around the paint. However, as she started to work on her own time, she developed the shot and became the leading scorer for the team.

Kinsel has high expectations as her senior season approaches. She expects the team to repeat as the region champions and go undefeated.

Before the season has even begun, Kinsel has four colleges interested in her. Those are Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Mass., Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and the University of Redlands in Redlands, Calif.

Kinsel said she is leaning towards the University of Redlands, the only college she has visited so far.

“It really fits what I want in a college,” said Kinsel, who is planning on majoring in sports medicine and athletic training. “Even the campus and what they have to study there.”

Kimberlee is extremely proud of what her daughter has accomplished on the basketball court.

“It’s like wow, that’s our daughter,” Kimberlee said. “She’s making a name for herself.”