A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Top: Players from 13 teams playing three-on-three kept the basketball courts at Pinehurst Park buzzing Friday. The event was a first for Cloquet's Fourth of July celebration, although it took place a day late due to the rain that fell Thursday morning and afternoon. There had been 28 teams slated to play on the holiday. Left, Tim Pokornowski makes a drive during tourney play. It took about three hours to wrap up with a double-elimination format. In the end, the team called Native Hoopers, above, won it all.
The basketball courts at Pinehurst Park were awash in action and testosterone Friday, packed with young men playing basketball, or bantering as they hung out along the fence waiting for their next turn to play.
For three hours, the courts were constantly in motion, with 3-on-3 games going on at both ends, 10 minutes each or the first team to get to 21 points in the first-ever Cloquet Fourth of July 3-on-3 basketball tournament, held a day later due to heavy rains the day before.
Cloquet High School alumnus Paul Cameron organized the free tournament. A former CHS basketball player, Cameron considers the Pinehurst courts some of the best in the Northland, noting that he drives down from Duluth to play several times a week in the summer.
The idea for the tournament sprang from a conversation between Cameron and his friend Jackson Nemmers.
"We thought it would be a really cool fun idea, just because it's such a great space," Cameron said.
They had 28 teams registered for the Fourth, but only 13 after the tournament was rescheduled due to the rain.
"The tournament was much more competitive than I thought it would be, which was great," Cameron said. "People came out to play off the jump. In the championship game there were players that could dunk on both teams."
Players came from all over Carlton County and Duluth as well, but everyone seemed to get along, although there was some occasional good-natured chirping along the sidelines. Referees kept the games moving on each end of the court.
"I think it's a good thing for the community," said Nick Flynn, a 2019 Cloquet grad, who played on the Hoodrat Hoopers with fellow grad Nick Pfisthner and CHS students Cal Pertler and Jordan Diver. "And it's fun."
The Native Hoopers won, with Skid Nation taking second. STTA took third place.
Cameron credited Cloquet Ford Chrysler, Gordy's Hi-Hat, Culligan Water and Browns Connection for helping make the free tournament something special.
Cameron said they're shooting for 50 teams next year; along with a youth bracket.
