Hoopfest preview: Hub Northwest’s Mike Hart, Parker Kelly, Marc Axton and Robert Lippman go for sixth straight title
Northern Quest Center Court is where the best of the best vie for their chance to be crowned as a Hoopfest champion.
Four elite adult divisions, with more than 100 total teams, battle Saturday and Sunday toward the title games which take place on center court in the U.S. Pavilion inside of Riverfront Park.
All four returning champions from the four divisions return in 2024.
In the Men’s Open bracket, Hub Northwest will look to continue its half-decade of dominance as the squad goes for its sixth title in a row.
Their current streak of five is tied for a Hoopfest elite record with BAMM (coed elite in 2017-19 and 2022) and TBA (women’s elite between 2010-14).
All four players return, former Gonzaga player Mike Hart, former Eastern players Parker Kelly – whose dad was just inducted into the Hooptown Hall of Fame – and Marc Axton, and Northwest Nazarene and Northwest Christian grad Robert Lippman.
Its first game on Saturday is at noon on Xfinity elite division court No. 2 on Spokane Falls Boulevard, just east of Howard Street.
For the third year in a row, Big and Juicy will be looking to knock off Hub Northwest, as the previous two summers saw them lose 20-18 in the title game.
Dominick Oliveri and Matt Ellis are holdovers from 2023, while Ethan Boag and Jakob Neufeld are new this year.
Oliveri played alongside Smith at Lewis and Clark from 2014-2016 before heading to Western Washington and the University of Victoria for his final year of eligibility last season.
Ellis went on to play professionally in Canada while Boag just finished up junior season at Victoria.
Neufeld played for Victoria in 2022-23 before transferring to Buffalo State last year.
They play on Saturday at 11 a.m. on Xfinity elite division court No. 3 on Spokane Falls, just east of Howard.
Men’s under 6-foot
The 2023 champs, NW Warriors Elite, squashed the demons left behind from their 2022 loss in the title game.
After the title game, Aaron Antonine expected them to be back in 2024 and indeed they are with 75% of the team intact as NW Warriors Elite looks to go back-to-back.
Antoine, Ahbrae Harvey and Ross Nakamura return while Dustin McConnell was traded out for Therone Tillett.
The first three all have ties to the Lilac City Legends, a fledgling pro team based in Spokane.
Nakamura spent time with Whitworth, where as a senior, he led D-III in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Tillett played at Rogers High School before a short stint on the San Diego Toreros for the 2013-14 season.
NW Warriors Elite play Saturday at 11:30 a.m. on Xfinity No. 8 on Spokane Falls just west of Stevens.
The biggest challengers are the 2023 runners-up BBFORLIFE AMOTKAN who feature Preston Wynne, Dominique McClendon, Brandon Kohler and Markieth Brown.
Wynne was a star at Wellpinit High School before becoming the second Community of Colleges of Spokane player to surpass 1,000 points in 2012. McClendon also played for the Sasquatch and Everett Community College.
Brown played at Shadle Park, before venturing to Everett Community College, where as a sophomore, he averaged 26.2 points a game. He then went on to play at Montana Tech for the 2020-21 season, averaging almost 10 points per game.
Kohler played at Reardan High School before making a few stops in college, including Whitworth for the 2016-17 season.
McClendon – formerly of BE BALL FOR LIFE – replaced Coty Reuben.
They play their first game at 11:30 a.m. on Xfinity court No. 7 on Spokane Falls, just west of Stevens.
BE BALL FOR LIFE is now Justin Bright, Jason Carmichael, Joshua and Maurice Thomas filling in for McClendon.
Their first game is at 10:30 a.m. against Fronline on court Xfinity court No. 7.
Keep an eye on Deseret Horse Elite, who grabbed a few titles between 2014 and 2016.
That team is manned by JR Camel, Michael Jackson, Matt and Hudson Luedtke.
Women’s elite
Stacy Clinesmith recruited Oti Gildon back to the Tomato StreetBallers after a year hiatus. Gildon won a title with Clinesmith in 2022.
The other members remain the same from their title-winning squad from 2023 which includes Erika Bean and Laurie Koehn.
Clinesmith is an assistant on Lisa Fortier’s Gonzaga women’s staff, but prior she was a state player of the year under Jeannie Helfer at Mead, which put her on the national map.
Her career at UC Santa Barbara, where she graduated as the program’s fourth-leading scorer and second in assists, led her to being a second-round pick of the Sacrament Monarchs of the WNBA.
Gildon, former Bullpup and Oregon Duck, was the MVP of the women’s elite bracket after dominating the 2022 Hoopfest weekend.
Koehn is an associate coach for Washington State but played in the WNBA for eight seasons between the Washington Mystics and Atlanta Dream.
Erika Bean played at Utah before a pro career in Greece.
Tomato StreetBallers first game is at 9:30 a.m. on Xfinity court No. 6 on Spokane Falls just west of Stevens.
Their biggest challengers will be Empire Fitness who are sisters Jazmine and Jade Redmond, playing alongside Shaniqua Nilles and Chelsea Winters.
Jazmine, Nilles and Winters are former GU women’s players while Jade played for the Nevada Wolf Pack.
Jazmine and Jade played at Mead Panthers, Nilles at West Valley and Winters went to Moscow and Lewiston high schools.
Their first game is at 9 a.m. on Xfinity court No. 6.
Coed elite
Family Ties rebranded to Juan on Juan, but their squad is the same with Austin Bolt, Alyssa Jimenez, Alex Jimenez and Salvador Jimenez back to defend their crown.
This is their third team name in three years.
Austin Bolt, the former Gatorade Player of the Year in basketball and football in 2020, leads the team with three Jimenezes flanking him. The Jimenezes played with Bolt at Borah High School in Boise.
Their first game is at 9:30 a.m. against Jordan is the GOAT on Xfinity court No. 5 on Spokane Falls, west of Stevens.
Bolt is a wide receiver for Boise State.
They will be watching Local twenty nine, who faced them in last season’s title game.
That team is comprised of Michael and Marissa DeLaMatter, Conrad Ritchie and Kyle Roach.
Ritchie was a McDonald’s All-American nominee who also earned Oregon all-state honors in 2008 while playing for Clatskanie High School.
Roach was a star at Whitworth (15-19) after a monster senior season in high school, where he averaged 36 points a game and 10 rebounds.
His time at Whitworth was also successful, as he was a D-III All-American his junior season and the Northwest Conference Player of the Year.
Their first game is at 10 a.m. against Kiyote Moon on Xfinity court No. 5.