Building Basketball Tournament A Swishing Success

It only took Chris Skukalek about a week to get the guys together.

A varsity starter for the basketball team, he heard about a 3 on 3 tournament at the  about two weeks before it was to tip off.

"Playing with some older guys is usually better competition," Skukalek said. We were ready about a week before, ready to play in it."

Players showed off their skills at the inaugurual basketball tournament Aug. 13 and the city employees who created the contest hope it's the first of many.

“We’re not trying to make a huge profit,” said Ralph Shaw, recreational programmer for the city who helped oversee the project. “There are a lot of private companies that come in and have their And-1 tournaments and it’s like $100 plus, so we wanted to offer something for the City of Clearwater and its outstanding areas to just get a nice thing going.”

Though, promoted as a co-ed event, five teams comprised of high school and college aged males showed up. The cost to enter was $30 for each team.

Players enjoyed the tournament which featured a three point and free throw contest.

There, they played a round-robin, as the two teams with the best record faced off for first place.

Team Bears knocked off Team STA 21-20 in the championship game to earn the trophy.

"It was definitely competitive," said Andre Ortega, 19, a member of the first place Bears. "Once we got into, it was a lot of fun."

Ortega plays weekly pick-up games at the Long Center.

"We just took it as an opportunity to be competitive and it was pretty cool winning the trophy," Ortega said.

Skukalek, 17, who also plays AAU basketball, enjoyed getting his team on the court.

"Whenever we here about stuff like that, we like to do it," Skukalek said. "It's just fun for us, just to have a good workout and play against good competition."