The 3v3 basketball tournament ended with a championship game between Korpradis and Sepdawgs, two fully senior teams. After an intense battle, Korpradis won 11-9, a full-circle redemption after an earlier loss to Sepdawgs in the tournament during the quarterfinals.

Initially, The Sepdawgs held a 9-1 lead over Korpradis, with a seemingly good chance to win. However, Korpradis had a comeback by limiting Sepdawgs’ three-pointers while allowing layups, according to Hudson Fleming (12).

 In the final moments, with the score 11-9, Korpradis focused on playing suffocating defense. Sepdawgs had a last opportunity to score but struggled to find an open shot. As the final buzzer sounded, Fleming celebrated the victory with his team.

“It felt great to win,” he said. “My first reaction was how underestimated we were. We weren’t supposed to win, but it felt good to win. At the start people were doubting us. They said that we weren’t gonna win and they said our team was bad and we wouldn’t even make it past three rounds. I guess they were just talking smack.”

The tournament, organized by ASB, had a packed crowd during the championship game, adding to the spirit on the court, according to Fleming. 

“Everyone was going out there to win and so it was nice to have a crowd because they would sometimes react to what was going on and so it’s kind of nice to just have that motivation in the back so it’ll keep you going,” Fleming said.

Fleming said one of the most important parts of the game is to have a good team dynamic, something he said sets them apart from the rest of the teams.

“I think [what sets us apart] is how close we are as a group,” he said. “We have a really tight knit group and we did training for the game. It was me, Mac, and Ethan to start, and then we had Luke. We also had the Lady Corps too, which is Nia, Soraya, and Sarah. We were all kind of like a big group and we’d take turns playing.”

Mahir Desai (12), a player for the Sepdawgs, said the team had high expectations because they were entering the championship with a perfect 5-0 record. Their strategy revolved around targeting two strong players, Ethan Holman (12) and Mac Lanier (12), on the Korpradis team and making sure they didn’t have the opportunity to set up for a good shot.

“We left it all out on the court,” Desai  said. “It was a great rivalry. This is the 3rd time we played Korpradis; the first two games were really close, and the third was no different. We played three really close games. This time we were just on the short end of it.”

The final moments of the game were tough for the Sepdawgs. Desai recalls the final moments as a tense struggle to fend off the other team.

“In the final moments, I was trying to get a shot off, but they were double teaming me,” he said. “I kicked it out to an open teammate, but it was a tough situation. The other team played some good defense.”

While the Sepdawgs weren’t able to stay unbeaten throughout the tournament, their strong performance secured their place in the finals which they have achieved two years in a row. Meanwhile, the Korpradis were able to persevere and gain redemption in the final championship.

 “There’s  a winner’s bracket and a loser’s bracket,” Fleming said. “We lost so we went to the loser’s bracket. But we made it through and played them again, so we got redemption. It feels good [to win]. It’s just a 3v3 tournament, but it was fun to go out there and win after three years playing.”

Korpradis’ defensive strategy proved crucial in the final moments. Fleming, who primarily played a defensive role, said they focused on defending against Sepdawgs’ key shooters and their three-point attempts. His teammates are both members of the varsity basketball team, and were important in executing their game strategy.

“We had already played the Sepdawgs before, so we wanted to play them hard and make sure that we didn’t let them shoot threes,” Fleming said. “We were going to let them drive in and get layups, but we were going to press them high and not let them shoot threes. We didn’t want Mahir to shoot because he scored three 3-pointers in a row last time we played.”