Hoops-Happy Throng Takes Over City Streets Jammin’, Chillin’, Eating Burgers

It took a ton of ice - actually 24 tons - to chill the 50,000 folks who hit downtown on the first hot day of Hoopfest.

Frosty Ice Co., the main provider of commercial ice for concessions, trucked in about 1,200 bags of ice during the event. Each weighs 40 pounds, bringing the day’s total to 48,000 pounds.

Also consumed Saturday:

5,000 cans of soft drinks - just for the court monitors and scorekeepers on the 217 Hoopfest courts.

15,000 gallons of Gatorade - most of it given away at tables in the Wall Street food arcade.

More than 15,000 hamburgers at McDonald’s on Riverside. At some points during the early afternoon, clerks there were selling nine burgers a minute.

The Bees’ knees:

It’s the world’s largest 3-on-3 tournament - with a small 2-on-3 division.

Not surprisingly, Queen and the Bees dropped into the losers bracket in the female 18-29 division when they had to finish their opening-round game against Hoop Flesh with two players after Lawayne Taylor and Terri Stanke suffered knee injuries.

Taylor went down after stepping on an opposing player’s foot.

“And Terri just touched the ball once, made a move to her right and popped her knee,” reported teammate Angie Pflugrath.

Pflugrath and Melissa Crouch carried on alone against Hoop Flesh.

“I can’t believe it,” said Pflugrath, a former high school star at Hunters. “Last night, we didn’t drink, we didn’t go out, we stayed home, we were good girls and the next thing you know, this. But that’s the way it goes, I guess. We must be getting to be old ladies.”

Naming names:

Hoopfest organizers are steamed at the dozens of volunteer court monitors who didn’t show up as promised.

“I can understand the cases of a few who said, ‘Hey, I have to take off, something’s come up,”’ said Hoopfest official K.W. Knorr.

He’s not so forgiving toward those who grabbed the shoes, shorts, T-shirt and athletic bags given to monitors, then scattered.

Knorr said he and other organizers said they’ll consider publishing the names of those who jumped ship without fulfilling the work they said they’d do.

Fewer injuries:

Medical volunteers reported far fewer cuts during games.

That’s the result of adding pads to the two metal supports holding up the backboards on all the courts.

“That’s really cut down the number of hand cuts we’re seeing - which is almost none,” said Cathy Revill, a nurse at Hoopfest’s Rockwood Clinic medical care tent.

The two most serious injuries both involved 16-year-olds. Donovan Hodgson suffered a deep cut on his chin from a collision during a game.

He ran to the medical tent, learned he needed stitches, then decided to hurry back and continue playing.

Once there, he was told to leave until the cut was closed. Hoopfest court monitors have directions to make sure any bleeding player leaves the game immediately.

The second injury occurred when another teenage boy landed on his leg and suffered a mild fracture. An ambulance took him to Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Some like it that way:

Most players in the adult and open divisions expect to play hard and deal with plenty of shoves, hacks and collisions.

“But I’m seeing young boys and girls in the early grade groups whacking away,” said parent Larry Geraldson.

Players past grade eight are supposed to call their own fouls, except in the open, advanced divisions.

“I like it that way, more physical,” said Jake Marquess, an Eastern Washington University student competing in the open, under-6-foot division.

He’s also a football player, by the way.

Bischoff played in the first Hoopfest, then skipped four years before trying again in the male adult division.”I think they don’t have enough good monitors. It seems to allow the play to get a little more wild than it should,” he said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Five Photos

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Tom Sowa Staff writer Staff writer John Blanchette contributed to this report.