BEAT VAN STATE!

A collaborative effort by Can3x and Isoking Isports.

Pictures by Justin Scott (@Illcatchup), words by Simon Kutzschmar.

We kick this blog off with the artistic recap "A Story of Light and Shade", including three slideshows comprised of delirious film photography by Justin Scott and words by Simon Kutzschmar. Just below, you can find the tournament recap and digital picture archive.

Enjoy!

A Story of Light and Shade

Part 1: Pushed Ilford

It‘s a story of passion, a story of love, a story of success and a story of pain. The light shines brightest on the people in the spotlight. But what about me? What about my team? What about the hours we put in, in the dark. Gameday is war, only one succeeds, unless success can be measured in more ways than one. Can3x is a journey, not an overnight success story, a story everyone can write their own chapter for. Opportunities are plenty, you just have to grab them, and in the end we will all stand in the light.

Part 2: Portra400

It‘s a story of accomplishment, when the light turns on. Accomplishing your first 3x3 game, your first bucket, your first assist, your first steal, the first time you take a charge or the first time you reach 21 points. 3x3 basketball is a new sport, a new land of opportunity. New work to be done, new moves to be learned, new strategies to be invented and new rules to abide by. It‘s when we see our own steps towards success, is when we step out of the shade and into the light.

Part 3: Cinestill

Delirium. When we start clicking and gain confidence, when we make the behind the back pass or pull up from the logo after making two in a row. There is no defender that can stop you, they are moving cones at best. The game slows down, you predict what’s happening next, instincts take over and you start trusting yourself. It‘s the moment all hard work pays off.

BEAT VAN STATE

South Vancouver. Main Street and 51st Avenue, where the beautiful Sunset Community Center provides a family-friendly facility for old and young.

A first step, a first try, a first collaboration and a bounty to top it all off.

“Beat Van State” was Can3x’s fist collaborative event with Isoking Isosports, a basketball event organization boasting tournaments in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

The challenge was clear, 3 hours to provide a full tournament experience with a certain twist. In and out, ensuring the gym is clean and ready for recreational soccer. Now how can we get maximum action into a gym with 1 full basketball court, therefore only two potential 3x3 courts?

At Can3x, we like to use 3x3 as our playground to innovate within the possibilities of official Fiba 3x3 tournament structures. For “Beat Van State”, we envisioned a bounty-style tournament, providing an extra incentive for participating teams to give it their all throughout every game. The gist: Beat the respective Women’s or Men’s team suited up in Van State Jerseys to receive a 100$ cash bounty reward.

For Van State on the Women’s team, local BC hoops standouts Sophie Swant, Tia Tsang, Kira Pederson and Dana Sander suited up to take on 2 challenging teams.

On the Men’s side, Van State boasted high-level collegiate talent in Adam Olsen (UBC), Tate Christiansen (SFU) and Dylan Homenick (Perkiomen School, prep).

Women’s competition:

Team Squeakers collected their first experience in the game of 3x3 and steadily kept a great attitude while battling adversity.

The Dream Team saw returning team captain Alexa Kusel (Capilano) assemble a very talented team including Aiko Williams (UBCO), Louise Dykstra (Northern Colorado) and Teigan Manson (Capilano). After being thrown into cold water the very first game against Van State, the team was able to find their groove against the Squeakers and connect on many quick actions and big 2-pointers. Challenging Van State for a second time, the Dream Team was able to change up their strategy and intensity, leading them to double their offensive output before coming up just short against the home team.

Van State saw their debut in Fiba 3x3 action but it became clear early on that chemistry would be a major factor throughout. The women left no doubt that the money would stay at home, earning them the tournament victory and a clean slate as the undefeated champion.

We would like to thank all participating players! Providing an inclusive platform in 3x3 is of utmost priority and we would not have been able to put this experiential experience together without you. We hope to increase participation to offer appropriate skill categories, ensuring everyone can find a rewarding challenge within their abilities.

Men’s competition:

Just like the Women’s competition, we happily hosted a great pool of varying skill levels in the open Men’s division. As we always say, 3x3 is a different sport than 5 on 5 basketball and the typical parameters and level of play can only be indicators at best. Every single team got in the scoring columns early, as we saw 8 of 11 games with both teams scoring in double digits.

Team Fundamentals kicked the day off with a win against Zhuguli before taking narrow losses to Vancity, Iso Sports and Van State. The team showed promising flashes with a young core comprising Lorenzo Bonamin (Douglas), Addison Button (Langara), Tony Shon and Adam Durnev.

The surprise team of the day might have been the “second home team” of Iso Sports. The guys collected two hard-fought victories against Zhuguli and Fundamentals, before paying their dues to the more experienced Vancity and Van State squads. Iso Sports’ very own Richard Liu later went on to dunk in our Dunk-off powered by Dipt., more on that below.

Team Zhuguli ended up just short of a victory that day but enriched the competition with encouraging performances, nonetheless.

The first bounty of the day was collected by Team Vancity. This team was undoubtedly the most experienced 3x3 team in the competition and has proven to beat Van State at Applewood Summerfest in 2023. Standouts Kobe McKnight, Dylan Kinley and Ronnie Battle were joined by athletic forward Luke Burton this time around. A 22-17 victory secured the first 100$ bounty of the day.

After all round-robin games were played, Vancity was to face Van State a second time, this time for the tournament championship and 200$ of prize money. Despite a strong effort, Van State was not able to take away enough 2-pointers to keep Vancity off of their scoring barrage. The highly entertaining and intense contest ended 22-18 for the challenger.

“Beat Van State” was the ask, but who can beat Vancity is the question moving forward!

Demi’s Dunk-Off powered by Dipt.:

Rounding out the day, Dipt. Kicks put up a pair of Nike Dunk sneakers for the winner of Demi’s Dunk Off powered by Dipt.

Demi took on Iso Sports’ Richard Liu, Owen Myrol and Luke Burton.

From Windmill Dunks to Tomahawk Jams, the athletes started jumping over banners before Owen Myrol shut down the gym by clearing both Demi and Luke for his winning attempt.

We’d like to extend a special thank you to Isoking Isosports for co-hosting the event, as well as their volunteers who kept the day running and everyone on schedule. Another big shoutout belongs to our referees and content creators, especially to Justin Scott, Vivian Chan and Mackenzie Kerr.