The Rebel Sport 3X3 Quest Tour returned after a fortnight away and it was ‘3’s with Fleas’ crowned victors of the Open Men’s grade at Odlins Plaza in Wellington this past weekend.
The champions avenged an earlier loss to ‘Rhythm’ in pool play in their semi-final before knocking off ‘I’m a Fun Guy’ in the final, 15-9.
‘3’s with Fleas’ captain Ben Ross says his team was chuffed to take home the spoils after coming up short in previous years.
“Pretty much all of us have played the in the last few events here in Wellington and this is the first time we’ve managed to go all the way.
“We ran a lot of pick and roll, moved off the ball and made the extra pass, which turned into good looks and thankfully we converted a decent chunk of them.”
Ross added the wind made shooting difficult at certain stages during the day, but you couldn’t have asked for more sunshine.
“For whatever reason it’s always a scorcher when this event’s on and so marrying that up with everyone’s love for basketball you get a great day out.
“3X3 is certainly different from five aside, but all of us boys enjoy the physical side of it and having a day’s worth of games to get through. It’d be cool to have more of these types of competitions.”
Accompanying the main card were two mixed grades – the Youthtown Senior and Junior Mixed. ‘Next Up’ earned first-place honours in the more seasoned competition, winning all seven of their games, the last of which was a 13-9 conquering of ‘Los Muchachos’.
‘JBT3’ were the best side amongst the youngsters taking part on a beautiful day at the capital’s waterfront. After comprehensively beating ‘Hoops I Did it Again’ in their semi, 16-2, the eventual winners finished 6-5 to the good in their finale with ‘Don’t Sag’.
Jordan Lindbom from ‘Rhythm’ was judged to have had put on the best show from the Rebel Sport Dunk Contest contestants, while Charlie Howat from ‘Don’t Sag’ won the Shoot Out Contest and Riwiri Rangihuna from ‘L.A Fakers’ was the last one standing in the Knock Out Contest.
The Tour travels to the South Island this weekend, with Hagley Park set to host basketball enthusiasts from the Christchurch area. As always, entries to this event are open to all ages! For those interested in putting a ball in a hoop, create a player profile, reply to the confirmation email and you’re then eligible to register a team.
Results of Wellington leg of the Rebel Sport 3×3 Quest Tour (week four):
Open Men’s Winners – 3’s with Fleas
- Ben Ross
- Cambell Stephen
- Kaleb Barton
- Mitchell Stephen
Open Men’s Runner-up – I’m a Fun Guy
- Dallas Clayton
- Josh Tutagalevao
- Micah Tupou
- Paddy Blackman Jr.
Youthtown Senior Mixed – Next Up
- Alex Ramsay
- Malachi Reid
- Lukah Richards
Youthtown Junior Mixed – JBT3
- Brodie Parker
- Jordon South
- Ted Woolley
3X3 Quest Tour Schedule, 2021
- Christchurch, Hagley Park, Saturday 20th February
- Dunedin, Octagon, Saturday 27th February
- Auckland South, MONC Netball courts, Saturday 6th March
- New Plymouth, Waiwhakaiho Netball Courts, Saturday 13th March
- Final, TBC
* This final event is the World Tour Qualifier Final and is only open to the Open Men’s Grade teams that qualified at one of the above regional events. No other grades will play at this event.
More info:
- More details on the tour here
- Sign up for the tour via play.fiba3x3.com
- Follow the event on Basketball New Zealand’s Social media accounts on @BasketballNZ via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
