They didn鈥檛 have an official team name and had to forfeit a couple of matches after sleeping in Saturday morning, but Chris Church鈥檚 team came out on top with a hard-fought win in the men鈥檚 finals of East Three School鈥檚 annual three-on-three basketball tournament Jan. 12 and 13.

鈥淎 lot of guys here helped me out to get me here,鈥� said Church after the final match.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 thank them enough. It鈥檚 all about having fun right. It鈥檚 really good to have everyone come together as one to play these games. We all appreciate it. We all have fun.鈥�

The men competed in one of five divisions this year, which including women, 15U, 13U and Grades 4-5-6.

鈥淚n the end, it鈥檚 all about who鈥檚 getting that last bucket,鈥� said Church. 鈥淯ntil that buzzer goes off, you don鈥檛 know who鈥檚 going to win.鈥�

His team, made up of Church, Morgan Sydney and John Francis, moved the ball expertly in the final match.

鈥淲e had some good offense going,鈥� said Church. 鈥淎t the start, we were a little rusty. We got lucky. We started moving together as a team. There were only three guys so it was pretty hard.鈥�

Stephanie Parkes, one of the tournament鈥檚 organizers this year, was glad to see Tuktoyaktuk involvement. Unfortunately, Tsiigehtchic had to back out because of the severely cold weather last weekend.

鈥淭here were a lot of people out (Friday, Jan. 12),鈥� said Parkes. 鈥淧eople from the community came in. I think all the kids had fun. We didn鈥檛 have one problem behaviour-wise or anything. It ran really smoothly.鈥�

Ninety-three players took part in this year鈥檚 tournament, making up 28 teams.

The tournament also acted as a fundraiser for the Grade 7 and 8 boys鈥� basketball team, who will be heading to the Junior Cagers in Yellowknife this February.