Traveling 3-on-3 basketball teams visits Mission Valley

Senior Olympian Terry Schaplow and his 3-on-3 teammates made a clean sweep when they came to the Senior Olympics June 15-17 at the Joe McDonald Gymnasium.

Schaplow, along with his teammates Kim Atwater from Seattle, J.D. Clark from Bozeman, and Buck Merriweather from Great Falls, swept a talented Browning team in the 3-on-3 basketball event at the Senior Olympics 21-12, 21-14 and 21-13.

“We would have liked to have seen more teams competing in the Montana Senior Olympics,” Schaplow said. “It was certainly competitive, and given the make of the other teams, they were certainly worthy competitors and good players.”

Schaplow and his team’s strategy was simple against the Browning squad, get a clean sweep.

“We were fortunate to win three in a row,” a tired Schaplow said after the meet.

Schaplow and his teammates compete in the National Tournament in Birmingham, Ala. and the Florida National Championship 5-on-5 every year, and a St. George, Utah 5-on-5 tournament.

“It’s really competitive at the one in Florida and most competitive at the Masters Tournament,” Schaplow said. “I was fortunate enough to win the 65-and-over division down there. This year in St. George I won the 60-year-old division.”

Schaplow’s team has experience playing against some of the best players basketball has to offer, even playing overseas in Melbourne, Australia. He played against former NBA players Greg Kite, who used to be Robert Parish’s and Shaquille O’Neal’s backup.

Schaplow even scored over former NBA player Mitch Wiggins, father of current player for the Minnesota Timberwolves Andrew Wiggins, in an intrasquad game.

“I scored on this guy that was about 6-foot-7, or 6-foot-8 inches and when we were going back up the court, he was giving me the stink eye,” Schaplow said. “I thought ‘what is his problem?’ The next time down the court, our coach asked me ‘do you know who you just scored on?’ That was Mitchell Wiggins.”

Schaplow and his team also has played pick-up basketball games against John Gianelli, formerly of the New York Knicks, former Chicago Bulls Coach Phil Jackson, Golden State Warriors player Tim Hardaway, and even former Minnesota Vikings’ hall-of-fame football player Cris Carter.

He and his team aren’t done exploring the wide world of basketball.

“We will be playing Seattle at the end of July and we will play in the Washington State Senior Games,” Schaplow said.