MONTAGUE — Montague's basketball programs hosted its second annual 3X3 tournament Saturday, Aug. 9, but its first using the new high school gym, which was completed in the spring.
Being able to use the new gym enabled there to be four games going at one time, eliminating delays between games and getting the event wrapped up in a shorter amount of time.
"It was great using the new gym to get an idea of how it looked with the kids playing and families watching them," Montague boys basketball coach Nick Thaler said. "The atmosphere in there is going to be special...We had many compliments on how nice the gym is. People were already talking about coming back next year."
New 'spinner' trophies, as opposed to stationary ones, drew great response, as did the 'toilet bowl' trophies. The toilet trophies, modeled after similar ones given out at Gus Macker events, honor teams who bounce back from losing their first two games by winning the third.
Montague players were involved, of course, but so too were players from Fruitport, Mona Shores, North Muskegon and other surrounding areas. Thaler said this was due to outreach efforts made in the Grand Rapids and Rockford areas, which will continue next year.
"It is great seeing how much talent there is from other areas," Thaler said. "Kids are more skilled than ever at certain age groups. You can tell who is putting in the time."
Thaler said many volunteers helped make the event happen, including officials, girls basketball coach and athletic trainer Jess DeBruin, and many more.
There's no slowing down the Montague 3X3, and Thaler said the goal is to begin preparations for next year's event even earlier than this year. The date is also flexible, after two years of the tournament occurring in mid-August.
