Redbull, USA 3×3, and Veniceball teamed up again for another instant classic at Venice Beach. What in the past has typically been a 2 day event was crunched into 1 jam packed day with both men’s and women’s teams battling it out in olympic 3×3 style.
The women’s team kicked off the day with the defending champs from last year’s qualifier receiving medals and a $3,500 cash prize! Following that up was the men’s tournament which featured predominantly VBL players/teams the favorite being Team Staples (aka Team Redbull) featuring VBL’s own Chris Staples, Hezi God, Marcus Bell, and Buddha Boyd.
Pool play consisted of 5 games that seeded the bracket play going forward, weeding out the majority of non VBL teams. When the bracket play commenced it looked like a typical Venice Sunday. The final four teams consisted of Team Staples, Los Fearless, One Mission(Adam aka don’t blink’s team), and another team from out of town. A grueling back to back overtime battle for Los Fearless had them in an exhausted position when reaching the star studded Team Staples in the finals.
Team Staples emerged as the champions making both Chris Staples and Buddha Boyd 2x qualifier champions and furthermore pursuing olympic dreams moving on to the regional tournament!