Balling at dusk

ARLEE - There was no shortage of good basketball and participants during the Arlee Celebration 3-on-3 Jamboree basketball tournaments last Friday in Arlee.

However, one thing that was scarce was daylight as the number of teams that signed up forced organizers to hold games until the wee hours of Saturday morning.

A grand total of 85 games were played and 43 teams showed up on the Thomas Lyles Memorial Court at the Arlee Celebration Grounds. That's 10 more teams than last year, which threw a curve ball at tournament director Steve Woll.

He originally planned on moving the start time of the tournament from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to prevent the championship game from being played in the dead heat of the day.

In the past, the tournament had lasted around eight to nine hours.

"Usually it's really hot and all our championship games are played in the heat of the day," Woll said about moving the start time. "And what a great picture, what a beautiful scene it would be to have basketball while the sun sets."

However, the amount of teams pushed the tournament time to a much later finish time, approximately 1:30 a.m. on Satuday.

"I had teams calling me until midnight to register," Woll said.

Woll was up setting the brackets until early Friday morning.

The tournament saw roughly 300 people standing around the courts or competing in the tournament itself at any time during the day.

"Nobody is complaining," Woll said. "They just want to play ball."

Woll estimated that roughly 2,500-3,000 people come through the courts during the tournament.

As for the 1:30 a.m. end time, Woll said that while he likes the later, cooler games, he'll be aiming for perhaps a midnight end time next year.

"After that it gets a little late," Woll said.

For results and more photos from the tournament check out www.leaderadvertiser.com.

Arlee celebration 3-on-3 jamboree

Boys 3rd-4th Grade

1. Montana Braves

Boys 5th-6th Grade

2. Double Ballers

Boys 7th-8th Grade

1. Montana Boys

2. Thundering Herd

3. Red & White

Boys 9th-10th Grade

1. Court Soliders

Boys 11th-12th Grade

1. No Ceiling

2. Young Gunz

3. Lakers

Men's Open

1. Desert Horse

2. Team Ramrod

3. Tire Depot

Girls 3rd-4th Grade

1. Black Stallions

Girls 5th-6th Grade

1. Mosquitos

Girls 11th-Women's Open

1. Notorius

2. Kick Rocks

3. Red & Blue