FLATHEAD 3-ON-3 HOOPS REPORT
A rundown of what happened in Hoopfest last weekend
In the boys 11th-12th bracket, a showdown between two teams comprised of Polson Pirate varsity players was in the making, but the anticipated encounter was derailed by a team operating under the designation of Harwood. In a preceding game, Desert Horse (Zach Camel, Riley Sampson, Dylan Kelley) were eliminated from contention by Harwood. Team Harwood then took on Double Stuff Oreos (Ian Laimbeer, Cody Fischer, Justin Hoel, Chaz Gordon of Glasgow) and dispatched them.
But as the saying goes, what goes around comes around, for Harwood was then knocked out by the Zoo Tang Clan, the latter who faced off against the Cunning Stunts team for the championship. Unfortunately, this was one of those games I was unable to acquire final data about.
In Men's Open Elite, Newdle (purported to be based out of Kalispell) challenged Desert Horse (J.R. Camel, Matt Luedtke, Zach Camel of local origin along with Kur t Schwamp who hails from Milwaukee) for the championship in their bracket. The game was knotted at 19 apiece as the waning seconds ticked down, but Newdle was able to pull off the championship just before time expired 20-19.
In the Men's 6-1 Rec bracket, Tire Depot won the championship over D.I.C., a team whose moniker has been reconfigured with an acronym for reasons of propriety. The roster of Tire Depot included local basketball protoges Alonzo Brings Yellow Sr., Alonzo Brings Yellow Jr., Moss Tanner and Elijah Cahoon.
In Mens 6-1 Under Elite, the championship took place between Stacked (J.R. Camel, Brian Buckneus of Stevensville, Eddie Stack of Great Falls relocating to Missoula and Toby Stack, the latter Hamilton boys basketball coach) and Bull Thing (comprised of players from Columbia Falls, Eureka and Kalispell), a team I was informed Desert Horse encountered earlier this summer at another tournament. The championship would be decided in overtime with Stacked getting toppled 17-18.
In the Girls 7th-8th bracket, another championship would be decided in overtime when Desert Horse (local Polson middle schoolers Lee Camel, Alicia Camel, Becca Whitesell and Megan Martin of Twin Bridges) knocked off the Hot Shots when Lee Camel sunk a trey from behind the arc during one of her side's two possessions to give her team the edge 16-15. The shooting touch of the Hot Shots unfortunately went cold, allowing Desert Horse to prevail.
In the Girls 11th-12th bracket, the Fugly Four prevailed over the Rustlers from Great Falls for the championship12-8. The Fugly Four are comprised of future Northwestern A Conference Frenchtown residents Sarah Lester and Emma Oostdyk along with Maddie Keast as well as Sam Manley. The first pair will likely reprise roles on the Lady Bronc varsity squad this winter.
In the Women's B bracket, the championship had some déjà vu qualities with the day before when the same two teams faced off against one another. The Blue Jays (comprised of former Polson Lady Pirates all-time leading scorer Corrie Villegas along with Lisa Mathias-Bible, Pearl Caye and Laura something, the latter whose surname I was unable to acquire nor could be deciphered from the signin sheet, but who is reputed to be a pretty fair rugby player from Missoula) once again dispatched Grills Gone Wild, a team purported to hail from Browning according to my less-than-extensive inquiries.
Outcomes that were not ascertained for these championships Mens Open Rec - Yahtzee vs Trev & Crew
Co-Ed bracket - Go Get It vs Wim Grim.
On Saturday Night, the women's three point shooting contest was won by Two Eagle River graduate and current Salish Kootenai College Lady Bison guard Charla Brown. For the men's top trigger for treys, Rodee Anderson of Corvallis apparently made the pilgrimage down from Libby after his Bitterroot Red Sox were eliminated from American Legion Western A District Tournament contention by the Bitterroot Bucs.
Recalibrating his stroke from the swing of a bat in baseball to the finger-roll touch needed for swishing a basketball didn't seem to require much of an adjustment after just a few hours time as he won the Mens Three-Point Shooting segment. The 9-foot dunking contest was won by Dallas Casazza, who I suspect may be related in some way to Whitefish Bulldog boys varsity head coach Mark Casazza. The Open Championship, which features a 10-foot dunking contest, was won by Joel Ahles, purported to be from Kalispell.
A successful tournament overall. Not too hot in temperature. Not too wet for climate like it was this spring. For those who had intended to make a deeper run into their respective brackets, there is always either the next tournament or next year, whichever happens to come first.