Pioneer Days has another successful 3-on-3 tourney
Basketball player James Bible is no stranger to basketball tournaments in any format.
Bible, who played basketball for Frontier High School and was a member of three AIHEC championship teams for Salish Kootenai College and now a Mission Valley resident, said the Pioneer Day 3-on-3 tournament was “fiercely competitive.”
Bible, who played on a 3-on-3 team sponsored by Tire Depot, said it was always nice to be on a team that went “undefeated” throughout the tournament.
“There were a few competitive games,” Bible said. “That is the key to (winning 3-on-3 basketball games) is to take the ball to the hole.”
Bible credited the 3-on-3 tournament with having “good sportsmanship,” a characteristic that Bible said is becoming lost with today’s younger players.
“This tournament had a lot of good sportsmanship,” Bible said. “I see that with a lot of kids nowadays. I really try to demonstrate good sportsmanship because there is a lot of kids watching.”
Steve Woll, who is the event organizer for the 3-on-3, agreed with Bible’s assessment of the tournament.
“Having a successful tournament really depends on the refs, parents and players and how they act,” Woll said. “Everyone was on their best behavior today.”
The tournament welcomed several new faces, Woll said.
“We had a lot of new faces and some new and up-and-coming players in the tournament,” Woll said. “There are some very good players in the Valley and there are a lot of good players from out of town that come to the tournament.”
Polson Pirates’ basketball player Jaydon Bautista was a member of the Ram Rod, a team that finished third in the 6-foot-1 and under division.
“All of the locals get pretty into it and that really gets you as a player hype,” Bautista said. “When you feed off the crowd, it makes you work harder and want to drive to the basket more.”
Arlee High School player Lane Johnson said the 3-on-3 event was “very competitive.”
“There were a lot of high emotions and a lot of talking between the players,” Johnson said. “Everyone in this tournament really wants to win.”
Johnson’s team won the 11th, 12th grade division.
“(Winning) feels pretty good because you put a lot of energy into playing in the tournament,” Johnson said. “You want to be able to stay in the winner’s bracket, especially throughout the day because it gets tougher to play when it gets hot out.”
The following is the results from Pioneer Days 3-on-3 results:
Boys/Girls/Coed 1st-2nd
1. Young Guns
2. Lil Desert Horse
Boys/Girls/Coed 3rd-4th
1. Lil Warriors
2.Badger Brayes
3. Gold Miners
Boys 5th-6th
1. Iron Horse
2. GKS
3. Beast Squad
Boys 7th-8th
1. En Fuego
2. That’s Whats Up
3. Mariners
Boys 9th-10th
1. Half & Half
2. Dream Team
3. Off In The Woods
Boys 11th-12th
1. Arlee Warriors
2. Blue Chips
3. Shockers
Men’s Open
1. Tire Depot
2. Cree Unit
3. Countryside Cowboys
Men’s 6’1” & Under
1. POI Time
2. Skoden
3. Team Ram Rod
Boys/Girls/Coed 3rd-4th
1. Lil Warriors
2. Badger Brayes
3. Gold Miners
Girls 5th-6th
1. Khoas
2. That Team
3. Papa’s Shooters
Girls 7th-8th
1. GC Elite
2. Dream Team
3. NWA
Girls 9th-10th
1. Keepin The Dream
2. Lady Cats
3. Bombsquad
Girls 11th-Women’s Open
1. All Nations
2. Tire Depot
3. Desert Horse
Coed
1. We Got This
2. Free Ballers
3. Ah-Huh-Honey