Over six Monday afternoons, over 90 students have had the opportunity to partake in the inaugural SMC 3×3 Basketball Championships.
Prior to the basketball season, the College grades (Year 9-13) run by College Sport saw new rules, venues and playing days very different from the normal basketball competition players had last year.
The school has moved from the Counties Manukau Zone to the Eastern Zone, shifting away from playing games in centralised venues to Home and Away games, where 13 out of 14 college teams would play on a Wednesday, usually the busiest sports day of the week.
This change was very difficult, especially due to the fact that we would have to provide our own referees (who also have their own games), leading to Mr Crummer’s decision to prioritise the competitive interschool games for the top Junior boys and girls and U19 boys and girls teams.
Meanwhile, the Year 7&8 weekly competitions were cancelled with no clear indication of whether there would be a season or not. Over 90 students in total risked not having a basketball season to play in this year and, of course, Mr Crummer was not going to let that happen!
This was when the 3×3 competition was formed. This allowed a single day in a single venue for Year 7/8 and Year 9-13 students using a modified version of basketball that allows four teams to play at one time.
3×3 is an altered version of basketball that isn’t like the public half-court pickup games. The number one urban sport, 3×3 only needs one hoop, half a basketball court and two teams of three. There are no half or quarter time breaks. Players run around the court for 10 minutes trying to score a basket within a 12 second shot clock. As soon as the offence scores, they switch to defence while the now offensive team clear the ball behind the arc. The first to 21 points wins. It is simple, fast and entertaining.
For this in-school competition, players are divided by year level into two grades: Intermediate (Year 7&8) and College (Year 9-13). So far, the competition has gone through just 6 weeks of games because of the sudden second Auckland lockdown. The only solution was to go straight to playoffs due to the time pressure of the summer sports season.
“Overall, I feel like the competition, and the College Grade especially has been a huge success with some tremendous games and amazing atmosphere,” commented Mr Crummer about the success of the new competition.
Games will be played during lunchtime over the course of two weeks from Monday-Friday (excluding Wednesdays).
There will be no draws in playoff games so after regulation time, teams try to be the first to score two points with no time limit to get there. The Intermediate Grade will play during Week 9 (14th September – 18th September) while the College Grade will play the following week. By the end of the Term, the basketball season will be complete and one team per grade will take the title of the Inaugural SMC 3×3 Champions.
These next two weeks of action-packed basketball is something that you don’t want to miss out so come along and watch our boys play during lunchtimes at the school gym!
Ethan Siao
