School hosts 3-on-3 tourney

CHARLOTTESVILLE — They were brothers and sisters, friends and foes, teachers and students; leaving it all out on the court.

Athletes, parents and fans of Royals basketball clashed at Eastern Hancock High School Saturday for the athletic booster club’s annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament.

The booster club has conducted the casual tournament for more than 20 years, said head basketball coach Aaron Spaulding. Dozens of people from the community sign up for the program’s biggest fundraiser of the year, with divisions ranging from the first- and second-graders to the 35-plus crowd.

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The boosters donate more than $20,000 to the school’s athletics programs every year, Spaulding said.

“It’s always been a good tradition,” Spaulding said. “We’ve had anywhere from 50 to 80 teams every year that play, so it’s always been a great event and a great money-maker for us.”

For senior basketball player Liberty Durham, the tournament marked a bittersweet day as the fast chance she’d get to play basketball as a Royal. But she had the opportunity to represent; Durham — alongside teammates Aly Spaulding and Jocelyn Duncan — made up “Triple Threat,” the only girls team participating in their division. They had no choice but to hold their own against the boys teams for the rest of the afternoon, Durham said.

Durham’s brother, Levi, was on a team that ended up narrowly defeating Triple Threat by four points. Levi, a sophomore at Eastern Hancock, said the sibling rivalry made for an intense game.

Levi was happy to finally have a chance to play against his older sister on a competitive level, but he doesn’t plan to gloat too much, he said.

“She’ll only be hearing about it for the next year or so,” Levi said to his smirking sister.

“Oh, and look, I beat her wearing her own sneakers,” he added, pointing to his shoes, which his sister wore at Eastern Hancock’s regional game against Irvington this year.

The athletics department is expected to make between $4,000 and $5,000 from the tournament fundraiser, said board member Terry Stephens.

While the tournament day is one of the booster club’s staple events, it’s also a chance for everyone from young kids to adults to pick their own teams and enjoy playing ball in a competitive yet relaxed environment, Stephens said.

It’s exciting to see students who don’t normally play, competing with and against one another, said board member Dana Allen. But her favorite part of the day is seeing the team names the players make for themselves.

A sample of Saturday’s team mascots: The Wannabees, the Boiler Ups, the Kung Pow Chickens, Ben and the Gingers.

“Oh, and the ‘Swish-Kabobs; that was one of my favorite ones from the elementary team,” Allen added, laughing.

Another player in the tournament, Derrick Noel, used to play for the Royals basketball team before graduating in 2015. He joined two of his former teammates on the court to try their luck in the single-elimination tournament.

The alumni players don’t normally have the chance to play ball together anymore due to jobs and school, Noel said. Saturday was a rare chance to face off against some good competition just like old times, he said.

“Basketball here, it’s where it all started,” Noel said.