It was an exciting day of basketball competition at the Roberts Creek Community School on Saturday, July 7 as eight adult teams and five youth teams came out for the third annual Daniel Kingsbury Memorial 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament. Kingsbury was a leading basketball player at Chatelech in 2005, and this event was organized by his teammates to honour him and raise funds for The Jellyfish Project, Kingsbury’s initiative that has educated over 100,000 students across Canada on ocean health and sustainability.
A tournament highlight was the first year of a Girls Youth division. Teams Raptor Girls, Grizzlies Girls and the Pacers played a round robin ending with a very tightly contested match between the Pacers and Raptor Girls. Excellent defence led the Pacers into the finals with an undefeated record. Pacers Lily Karkabe and Hanna Beyser were stripping the ball and jumping passing lanes all day, while Evie Clarke protected the rim and blocked countless shots. The same continued in the finals, but the offence of the Raptor Girls barely edged out the Pacers in the 11-10 contest. For the Raptor Girls, Tiana Hoile’s defence and ball handling was key in such a tight defensive battle, Audrey Spithoff was a force on the fast break, while Evelyn Wilson’s mid-range shot seemed to make the mark all day.
The Boys Youth division also had an exciting final with the 8 Balls narrowly edging out the Kool-Aid Jammers 15-14.
Team Sunshine and Team Linda Jackson were both undefeated when they met in the adult finals. Between their pick and roll and Gus Goerzen’s hot shooting, Team Sunshine had their offence rolling all day long. Linda Jackson’s depth was overwhelming, as they seemed to have strength, skill, and shooting throughout their lineup.
As expected, the finals started off tight, as both teams countered back and forth. Team Sunshine continued their hot shooting early in the game, while Linda Jackson’s TJ Turenne and Nate Haglund couldn’t be contained near the rim. In the end, Linda Jackson’s size, experience, and skill proved too much to handle as Linda Jackson emerged victorious. Turenne was named tournament MVP for his all around exceptional performance. He simply didn’t have any weaknesses and was determined to lead his talented squad to their first DK Memorial Championship win.
The tournament featured its first shooting contest, with Gus Goerzen the winner. Tournament organizers also honoured the coaches who were instrumental in developing basketball programs in Daniel’s era – Lenny Gould, Bill Campbell, Dan Kingsbury and Sam Dill.
The tournament received very generous support from local businesses and volunteers, and raised over $2,500 for The Jellyfish Project, reflecting Daniel’s legacy of generosity and community building. To learn more, see www.thejellyfishproject.org
