SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Force 10 women and 3BALL Omaha men were crowned champions at the 2021 Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Nationals Sunday at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Force 10 forward Cierra Burdick scored seven points in the title game and was named Most Valuable Player of the women’s nationals, while 3BALL Omaha guard Trey Bardsley, who sank the game-winner in the men’s final, was the men’s MVP.
Facing Maryland (2-4) in the finals, Force 10 took control in the final five minutes, capturing a 16-10 win and the women’s 3X championship.
Former University of Tennessee standout Burdick scored four of Force 10’s final eight points to help hold off a determined Maryland Team. Trailing 10-9, Force 10 outscored Maryland 7-0 in the game’s final 3:22.
“Man, it was tough,” Burdick said. “Every day was so hard every game was so hard and it feels good. You know you want it to be difficult, because if it’s not difficult it’s not as rewarding. Maryland played really tough, and they’re a physical team. They get amped up and hyped up, and I think that got us hyped up. It was an exciting final. I hope everybody enjoyed it.”
Maryland, which went 0-3 Saturday in the three preliminary round, losing by only a total of five points, found its stride on the second day.
Sunday opened with the women’s quarterfinals and Group B’s No. 4 seed Maryland surprising Group A No. 1-seed Legacy (3-1) 10-9 in a defensive battle. Behind the scoring punch of 5-foot-9 guard Te-Hina Paopao, Oregon ended N.C. State’s (1-3) title chase, while keeping its quest for a third-straight title alive.
Louisville beat Midwest Money Makers (0-4) 19-12. Force 10 used a 6-0 run midway through a tight game to roll past Kansas State 19-15 in a quarterfinals clash.
In the semifinals, Oregon was swallowed up by Maryland’s defense in a 19-14 decision.
Force 10 used a 6-0 scoring tear early in its semifinal game against Louisville, prevailing 17-13 for a spot in the title game.
Men’s 3×3
In a see-saw men’s championship game, 3BALL Omaha won the title after Bardsley watched his floater in the lane dance on the rim before falling in, giving Omaha a thrilling 21-20 victory over Harlem (5-1).
“We were getting up for (3X) nationals two falls ago and expecting it last summer and it didn’t happen, and so we had a long time off because of COVID and finally started to get back into things a couple of months ago and gearing up for this,” Bardsley said of his team path to the 3X Nationals. “We did a lot of scrimmaging, and we had a really good 3BALL select team that is also out of Omaha, so we were able to grind against them every practice. All those game-like practices really paid off for us.”
3BALL Omaha led in the title game 15-10, but Harlem, behind Dominique Jones, stormed back to tie the game at 17 with 3:25 remaining. Omaha again pulled ahead 19-17, but Jones hit a 2-pointer tying it, and Antoinne Morgano added a basket to push Harlem ahead 20-19. Omaha guard Dylan Travis tied the score 20-20, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
— From USA Basketball Communication
