Players passed, shot and dribbled as the fourth annual campus 3-on-3 basketball tournament again captured attention on campus May 17. With over 20 teams entered and the competition fierce, the games were much more intense and contested than last year.

“The tournament was an improvement on last years because there were less teams and less confusion,” Casey Belmont, ’02, and tournament committee member said. “The games were competitive but next year we plan to implement a rule of only one varsity basketball player on a team to make the tournament more open for weaker teams.”

The requirements, which modeled last years with a couple slight changes, were that each team had to have a girl and each girl basket counted as two points, but guys’ baskets only counted as one. Therefore, it gave teams who have an experienced female player a distinct advantage over the teams that relied on their male players for scoring.

“Why would the guys want to score and try to dominate when a girl’s basket counts for twice as much,” Christopher Schultz, student activities director and a member of the “Betrayers”, said. “It doesn’t make any sense. That’s why it helps to have a girl on your team who knows what she is doing.”

Among the teams that participated was an all faculty-family team called the “Mac Attack”, composed of English teacher Tom McEntee, band director Paul McEntee and their mom, physical education teacher Eunie McEntee, they were the only all faculty team.

“When players talk about chemistry as being an important team asset,” Tom McEntee said, “we don’t even need that. We have the blood connection. Playing with my mom and brother is just like back home when I was a kid.”

As the tournament advanced into the later rounds, the teams with the faculty members became more and more dominant. Mathematics teacher Ericlee Gilmore’s team, “Keep the Funk Alive”, and Schultz’s team Betrayers both advanced to the final four.

“We kept the funk alive all through the tournament,” Josh Wright, ’05, and a member of Keep the Funk Alive, said. “We did well to get to the final four and even though we lost in the semifinals, we still bounced back and captured third place.”

The championship game was between the Betrayers, last years’ champions, and the “Frenchies”, which featured basketball players Sam Babcock, ?02, Tim Haydock ’02, and Shanda Kemp, ’02. The Frenchies defeated the defending champs 7-6, with the Betrayers Jennifer Jesser, ’02, shooting 0 for 7 in the championship game.

“My performance wasn’t what I had hoped it would be in that last game,” Jesser said. “I did cost our team but I still had a great time and it was a fun way to end my basketball career at FC.”