London's Clapham Common saw the UK's first ever edition of the Red Bull Reign tournament last month. The fast paced, high endurance 3-on-3 event, pitted the best streetballers from around the UK against each other with a ticket to Toronto on the line.
23 men's and 12 women's teams competed in 10 minute half-court games, battling hard through the final knock out stages to earn their place in the global final.
The Asphalts Assassins made up of Tarryn Algar, Adam Lovelock, Jon J Johnson and Justin Hitchman started their journey on May 12 at the legendary Turnpike Lane basketball courts where they went undefeated, advancing through to the Final on June 23 after some close games in the Quarter and Semi Finals. The Assassins then faced Pure Kicks in a high intensity 10 minute Final where they gained the lead early and maintained it though to the final buzzer, booking their ticket to Toronto.
Asphalt Assassins player Tarryn Algar commented on the victory saying: “We were playing the best teams from each qualifier so we knew the competition would be fierce but after a shaky start we managed to get through to the final and play against a very tough ‘Pure Kicks’ team, who we are actually friends with.”
He also commented on the 3x3 format of the game: “Personally we all love the 3x3 format as it’s quick, fast paced and action packed basketball.. What more could you ask for!"
In the Women's Final, the 'Sharks' cruised through the Finals Day, coasting past the 'Runners' in the Semi Final (10 - 3) to see themselves through to the Final against 'Way to Work.' The Final battle was a nail biting affair, which saw each team competing hard until the last shot of the game with the Sharks hitting a game winning free throw to book their ticket to Canada.
