Hoops return to SummerFest with 8 teams

ROYAL CITY - The rejuvenated Royal City SummerFest 3-on-3 Hoops Classic had some glitches but, with a little ingenuity, event director Paul Olsufka pulled it off.

The fund-raiser for Olsufka's Royal High volleyball program was put together just two weeks before it was scheduled to be played. Still, it attracted eight teams of youths and adults.

"It is a start, and we'll try to keep it going in the coming years," Olsufka said.

He added that all of the participants enjoyed the competition and atmosphere.

The only age group that had more than two teams was the men's open, and that was after Olsufka included the lone high school boys team. The teams were the Snicker Doodles, Unicorn Storm and Leflers.

The teams played a double round-robin. Snicker Doodles emerged as the champs with a 3-1 mark.

The rest of the classifications had only had two teams. So they played each other three times.

Boys 14U: Royal Rattlers vs Splash Brothers, Splash Brothers won all three games.

Boys 12U: The Ballers vs Big 4, divided the teams up to make the games more competitive.

"We had single teams of girls in 14U and 12U. I had them play 3-on-4 and then divided the 12U girls up with the 12U boys to let them get their three games in, Olsufka said.

It has been a while since SummerFest has had a 3-on-3 tournament. Olsufka said he hopes to make it annual event.

"I hope to make it bigger and better in the future," said.