Sixteen-year-old Johnny Hunter dreams of earning a basketball scholarship so he can leave the Northern Cheyenne Reservation and go to college, the only way out of the cycle of poverty and depression continuing all around him. As suicide, a drug overdose, and depression tear his team and his tribe apart, Johnny and his grandfather, tribal elder Gray Man, must use their spiritual vision to guide their community back to the traditions of their ancestors. Johnny will have to face his own fears and doubts in order to heal his community, break the pattern of the past, and lead his team to victory.

When his teammate comes to him with thoughts of depression and suicide, Johnny must step in to help him. Will the past be repeated, or can Johnny help his friend reconnect with his roots and establish his own identity as a Cheyenne in modern America? At the same time, Johnny's basketball team, the Chiefs, faces the biggest game of their lives at the Montana State Championship, one that may decide whether or not Johnny will get the scholarship his college dreams are riding on.