George Ferguson
Havre Daily News Sports
gferguson@havredailynews.com
It may be July, and it may be extremely hot outside. But that doesn't mean it isn't basketball weather in Havre. On Saturday, the city of Havre and the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce will once again play host to the annual Nothin' But Net 3-on-3 youth basketball tournament.
The annual outdoor tournament will be held on 4th Avenue and 3rd Street in downtown Havre and will feature several different age categories. Those categories will include both a high school boys and high school girls tournament. There will also be brackets for middle school boys and middle school girls. The middle school brackets will be for upcoming seventh and eighth graders. There will also be a coed bracket for kids in grades fourth through sixth.
While it is still a little early, tournament organizer Dustin Kraske anticipates a good turnout this weekend.
"We really don't know where we're at as far as our numbers go right now," Kraske said. " But the past couple of years we have had around 50 or more teams and I think that it should be about the same this year."
Of course there are always conflicts when it comes to summer recreation and this weekend's basketball tournament is no exception. The Havre Northstars will be gone this weekend and the Havre High School football camp will also be running. But Kraske doesn't forsee anything altering the tourney's participation too drastically.
"I think the turnout should be really good," he said. "When you have something like this in the summer, your always going to run into something else going on. That's just unavoidable. But I think we should have a strong turnout and a really fun day."
The tournament will feature 10 outdoor halfcourt baskets with games running simultaneously on every court. The action will start at 9 a.m. with a round-robin format in every age group that should last until about Noon. At 1 p.m. the single elimination tournaments will get underway with things scheduled to wrap up around 3 p.m.
"This tournament is always a lot of fun," Kraske said. "It is exciting for the kids and there will be some good basketball. It should be a really fun day for everybody."
There is still plenty of room for teams to register.
Teams must preregister to compete. The entry fee is $65.00. Registration forms may be picked up at the Chamber office, Independence Bank and Master Sports.
Each team is guaranteed three games. Teams are computer bracketed into male-female divisions by entering grades.
The tournament is a pool-play competition in the morning, which brackets the teams within the grade divisions for single-elimination play, beginning at 1 p.m. Divisions for the tournament are: grades 4-6 mixed; there must be one girl on teams entering this grade division; Boy's 7-8 and 9-12; and Girls 7-8 and 9-12.
