With 37 teams competing, our venue for the day (Grote Kring, Kortrijk) was packed with ballers, beats and spectators all day. It was the first time ever someone organized a 3X3 tournament at Grote Kring, but it sure won’t be the last time. Located at the heart of the city, people were drawn to the music coming out of DJ Meks & Brizz’ speakers and enjoyed the show brought to them by over 120 ballers who were competing for a top 4 spot and Golden Ticket to the 3X3 Masters Finals.
Starting off as usual, the U13 & U15 teams took over 3X3 Masters Kortrijk. Six teams tested eachother in the U13 category, but in the end team Hoopsquad was victorious, winning all 6 of their games. To do so, they had to beat a very though The Montois team in the U13 final. BCO Summer Team and Helios U13 round up the top 4 who will be invited to play the big 3X3 Masters Finals (which is already in 2 weeks!).
The U15 boys and girls were divided in 2 pools of 4 teams each. Both TTB and Shake and Bake came out on top of the pool phase, with The Three and Shift Team as runner-ups. As TTB took an easy W over The Three, it was runner-up Shift Team who made it to to U15 Final in Kortrijk. They beat Shake and Bake with clear 8-13 numbers to take on TTB again. In the U15 finals, we had both team going toe to toe and head to head, never leading or trailing by more than 2 points. TTB somehow managed to score right before the buzzer, winning the game and a nice Bouncewear voucher.
More 3X3 basketball in the afternoon of course, when the U18 Boys, 18+ Women and 18+ Men started their tournament. Only 4 of the 15 teams +18 Men would make it to the semi-finals, and the competition kicked off with a do-or-die mentality from the first minute of action. 3X3 Masters regulars Under Armour dominated their pool, as did team 9000 (from Ghent, where else?) and All Ball Snapsports (all the way from the Netherlands). Another familiar team got the much wanted last spot in the semi-finals: Squad Streetball from Germany. They did so by losing only 1 game and then outscoring their opponents with 21 points each game, as points scored on average is the deciding factor to determine the rankings.
Both Belgian teams proved to be stronger in the semi-finals and squared of in the Finals. The size and strenght of Under Armour were too much to handle for Robin Spaens & co as UA cruised to a 19-10 victory, the 2nd time this year they have won a 3X3 Masters qualifying tournament (they also won 3X3 Masters Ghent)
In the 18+ Women category, the Duva Diva’s dominated the competition. They won every pool game by at least 3 points and finished of the tournament with a 15-8 win over Firegirls in the finals. Same story in the U18 Boys category, where A-town’s Finest held a clean sheet, winning all their games in the pool phase and beating Team JBK in the Finals.
Besides the venue and MC Lieven as newcomers to our tour, we had another primeur in store for Kortrijk: the NBA Legends Drill. In this concept, 8 participants try to win over the crowd with 3 oldschool NBA moves: Kareem’s skyhook, Rick Barry’s weird free throw and the infamous Bob Cousy lay-up. More important than scoring each basket, it were the moves and entertainment factor who decided on the winner of this contest. With some entertaining participants, including 9000’s Robin Spaens and Under Armour’s Leroy Anthonis, it was courtmonitor Daniel who stole the show with his breakdance moves and enthousiasm. He took home an NBA jersey as a reward.
The NBA 2K Shootout was a re-run from last weeks edition. Jérémy Bartholomeus of BX Spartians killed it in the Final Round, knocking down yet again the midcourt shot and proving his shooting performance in Brussels was no fluke. Congrats Jérémy!
The Dunk Contest? 1 word: AWESOME. Just watch the clips on Facebook or Instagram and you’ll know what’s up. Winner: Zac!