3x3 Edmonton Challenger 2022 - Pool Stage Recap

The Ice Centre in downtown Edmonton has only recently played host to great 3x3 basketball and continues to do so when fourteen teams touched down in the Albertan capital for the latest challenger tournament on the 3x3 World Tour.

Split into four pools of three, with only two from each going on to play in the knockout stage the next day, it was all to play for not only here, the team that stands at the top of the podium also winning a place in the Montreal Masters on the main tour in September.

Native team Winnipeg had earned a place in the main tournament, while three more Canadian teams had a chance to earn the open spot in Pool D through the qualifying draw. There Saskatoon and Edmonton both dispatched Okotoks by heavy margins before facing off to keep their campaign alive. After a close start between the teams, eight uninterrupted points from Edmonton saw them surge in front.

Saskatoon had nothing in response and Denzel James went on to make the game-winning plays which sent Edmonton through to the main tournament. They had a rough start in Pool D, losing 22-8 to Vienna, who then having trailed by four early on made a comeback against Chicago to top the group and the Austrian team's place in the knockout stage was set.

This left Edmonton and Chicago to face off for the last route out of the pool. There was little to choose between the teams when play tipped off, though Chris Mooney helped to keep the slender advantage with Edmonton. Jerome Desrosiers then hit four in a row, giving Chicago the lead, before Mooney put the home team back in front from beyond there arc. King Leroy McClure tied the scores with a two of his own and followed this up with the game winning shot, breaking local hearts as Chicago move on at the expense of Edmonton.

Winnipeg began Pool C in a similar fashion to this last game for Edmonton, opening with a narrow lead over Princeton and holding off the American team until Canyon Barry and Kareem Maddox combined to put Princeton in front. Effective offence from Winnipeg kept it close but Barry and Maddox continued to put it out of reach for the Manitoban team, the final score 18-15 to Princeton.

Princeton went on to beat Belgian team Merksem 21-17 to secure their quarter-final spot, leaving Merksem and Winnipeg to battle it out to join their American avengers. Paris Kyles gave Winnipeg hope early on, single handedly putting them up by six, en route to scoring eleven in the contest. Even so, Jonas Foerts and Matts De Kauser closed the gap for Merksem, the former putting them in front in the last minute.

Winnipeg were resigned to watching their advantage collapse and seeing the quarter final place they wanted go to Merksem, with the final score 19-16 to the Belgians. Home hope was lost but there was still a lot more action and drama in Edmonton on this Saturday.

Pool B opened with a shock result: second-ranked Amsterdam losing to Paris, the French club's superior shot efficiency helping them turn the tables on the Dutch and dominate them. Amsterdam made up for this loss by leading Fribourg from start to finish. Though the Swiss put up a fight they were outdone by Amsterdam's outside scoring, with eight from beyond the arc coming from Maksim Kovacevic.

Fribourg's only hope was to beat Paris in the last pool game, which looked like a tall order after the Parisians had built an assured five-point advantage by the mid-point of the game. Not going down without a fight, the Swiss closed the gap with four points unanswered, with Jonathan Dubas hitting six in a row for Fribourg, keeping it a close game. Paul Djoko kept trying to end the game for Paris but it was Dubas who brought the game to a close with a two-handed dunk:

Even so, this win would be for pride: with every team 1-1 in Pool B, it came down to points scored and, with Fribourg's win being the smallest, they were the unlucky ones. Paris and Amsterdam would be the two playing on Sunday.

Pool A saw three formidable, far-flung teams contest the two quarter final places open to them. Top-seeded Antwerp began by escaping the early pressure from Saitama to double their score and eventually win 15-8. They had a similarly hard time against NY Harlem, who were keeping to tight from close-range, though Antwerp's outside success kept the lead with them.

Kidani Brutus tried to force the issue for NY Harlem but Antwerp were far more comfortable and confident in possession and kept up their low-post rhythm to see out victory 19-16. NY Harlem's path to day two was assured after they put up nine points without reply against Saitama, the Japanese team able to find some scoring chances but ultimately undone by the tenacious offence of Dominique Jones, who helped seal the eleven-point win for NY Harlem over Saitama.

After a long day of exciting basketball, the quarter finals of the Edmonton Challenger were set. Antwerp will face fellow Belgians Merksem, similarly Princeton and NY Harlem will face off in an all-American end of the draw. High-flying Vienna will face a tough test when they take on Amsterdam while Paris and Chicago will vie for the last of four semi-final places.

All of that will go down on Sunday, when it will be decided who will take glory in Edmonton and the places in next month's Montreal Masters. Check back here to see how finals day unfolded at the Ice Centre, and see more by following this link over to the official 3x3 World Tour website.