As the final stop on the Lower Mainland’s summer tournament circuit, the action headed indoors for the 5th Annual Hoopfest Tournament in Vancouver, Canada. While some of the faces may have changed from 2004, the level of talent and intensity of play continues to impress. Entering the tournament with the previous four titles to their credit, The School looked to continue their dominance with an unprecedented 19-1 record (including round robin and playoff games). However, this year’s version of the defending champions had a Jerry Krause feel to it, as only Malcolm Campbell and Louis Hurd were carry over members from prior events. Squeezing into the playoff round with a victory over the Ravens in their final round robin game, The School was forced to play back to back games with a semi-final battle against the undermanned Rebels squad. On the flip side, Athelite, led by star guard Aman Heran held off a potential upset by Herbalex, who featured a trio of current and former University of Fraser Valley stars, Kyle Grewal, Tristan Smith and grad Dwayne Harrison.

Harvey Brar taking it to the rack against The School. Photo: A. Galesi

With The School falling to the Rebels in a semi final match that was highlighted by the Rebels having to hold off their opponent for the final twelve minutes a man short (guard Alex Steele was tagged with his fifth foul), the team from the Fraser Valley’s dominance over the tournament would no longer continue. Short handed and with no cavalry coming off the pine, the Rebels were left to scramble to cover on the defensive end. Launching from deep beyond the three point line, The School’s guards, specifically Louis Hurd and Lucian Saucic, forced the Rebels to play a three man zone and play straight up on Hurd. Having a ten point advantage in hand when Steele left the game gave the Rebels enough of a cushion to hold off The School’s comeback attempt as Neb Aleksic and James Kenyon countered on the other end of the court, leading the Rebels to a 95-90 victory.

California raised guard Smith swarmed by Rebels “D”. Photo: A. Galesi

After struggling through their round robin schedule, Herbalex managed to squeak into the playoff round due to the three way tie break point differential, only to face Athelite, the top seed from the HOOPS NATION pool. With Smith and Harrison battling the Athelite backcourt of Heran and Harvey Brar, Herbalex jumped out to a surprising twelve point lead at halftime. As the backcourt war continued to wage through the final twenty minutes, Athelite’s forward Rick Brar and Herbalex’s Grewal controlled the midrange and inside game. As the clock started to tick away, so did the Herbalex lead, as Athelite grabbed a four point edge with just under three minutes remaining and continued to hold the difference on route to a 84-80 W.

With two unsuccessful previous trips to the finals, the Runnin’ Rebels, the top seed in the SOUL IN THE HOLE pool, tipped off against Athelite shortly after 6:30pm on Sunday evening in a battle for the fifth annual title. Playing in their third game of the day and fifth of the weekend, both teams were physically and mentally spent, however with the tournament title up for grabs, neither team was willing to back down. Quickly jumping on a thirteen point lead, the Rebels took command of the scoreboard early in the first half as Aleksic and Kenyon continued their scoring barrage from both inside and downtown. Down eight points at the half, Athelite was unable to close the gap throughout out the second half, despite strong efforts from Heran and both Brar’s (believe it or not a third Brar was also in the mix, Rick’s brother Sandy!). Leading the game from the opening tip to the final buzzer and going undefeated throughout the weekend, the Rebels managed to close out their third trip to the championship game with a 93-85 victory.

RUNNIN’ REBELS – 5TH ANNUAL HOOPFEST CHAMPS Photo: L. Olsen

Prizes and Pride of 5Th Annual Hoopfest. Photo: L. Olsen

ADDITIONAL TOURNAMENT HIGHLIGHTS:

Although the playoff games were the main focus of the weekend, there were a number of other moments throughout the weekend by individuals and teams that deserve a shine in the spotlight including:

Ravens – With the addition of Junior Lennon (see Kits Beach articles), the Ravens were within a sniff of heading to the playoffs, however a double digit lead was not enough to hold off a surging School team looking to continue their dominance.

Junior Lennon and the Ravens ready to run. Photo: L.Olsen

Assault – Being the youngest team in the tournament, as well as short on manpower, it did not seem to have much of an affect, as they knocked off RR (featuring Gonzaga bound Bol Kong and UFV’s guard Gurj Jhaj) in the night cap on Saturday.

BK flushing it down before donning a Zags uniform. Photo: A. Galesi

Claire from downtown! Photo: A. Galesi

Roopi Claire (RR) – Heading to Capilano University, Claire was the highlight of the night in Saturday evenings matchup between Assault and RR, dropping four straight bombs in the first half from all over the court (hitting seven for the game). While that may not be considered much of a feat, the fact that he was doing it in shorts without a draw string, having to yank them up, made it that much more of a challenge!

5TH ANNUAL HOOPFEST AWARDS

CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM – Runnin’ Rebels

MVP – Alex Steele (Runnin’ Rebels)

ALL-STARS – Neb Aleksic (Runnin’ Rebels), Aman Heran (Athelite), Harvey Brar (Athelite), Kyle Grewal (Herbalex), Louis Hurd (The School)

Honorable Mention All-Star – Roopi Claire (RR)