INUVIK - Three new champions were crowned over the weekend at Samuel Hearne Secondary School's Wolverine Basketball Tournament, which featured fierce competition and more players than ever.

Even organizer Lorne Guy, who played in the senior division with the SHSS staff team, said he figured the tournament was the best one yet.

Members of SAMS Huskies take part in a warm up before a big game at the weekend's Wolverine Basketball Tournament held at Samuel Hearne Secondary School. From left, Jackson Christie, Jeremy Cockney, Austin Moore, Nicholas Dayman, Liam Larocque, River Ross and Farrell Pope. - photo courtesy of Jackie Dayman

"Last year I think we had 86 participants and this year we had 130, so obviously we're pleased with that," he said. "It's about bringing the communities together to have some fun. Hopefully we can continue that for years to come."

Out of the three divisions, the senior category boasted the most teams with seven, including one from Fort McPherson and Tuktoyaktuk. The SHSS staff team came into the tournament as the defending tournament champs, and went 2-0 in the opening round of the Friday and Saturday tournament.

But they met their match in Saturday's championship game against the Bears who also went undefeated. The Bears prevailed in a hard fought 35-31, led by Jason Dayman who scored 16 points. Eric Church tallied 13 points in a losing effort.

The girls division featured a feisty team from Sir Alexander Mackenzie School. Though they didn't manage to squeak out a victory, they stood tall against the older teams from SHSS.

The championship game featured a minor upset. The Inuvik Jr. Girls 1 team which went undefeated in round robin play lost to Inuvik Jr. Girls 2 team by a score of 18-10, led by Brandi and Chloe Larocque, as well as Kristen Elias who each had 4 points.

The team from From Fort McPherson's Chief Julius School turned out to be the power house of the four-team junior boy division, going undefeated in the tournament with a 5-0 record. The squad beat out SHSS Jr. Boys Black team by a score of 29-17. Merle Robert and Dustin Snowshoe led the way with a nine-point effort, while Kurtis Atkinson tallied seven points for the Black team.

Inuvik's George Ankama, 13, played in the championship game and said he was both surprised and impressed by the Fort McPherson team. Even with the toughloss, he said, he still had a great time.

"It was a blast just to be able to hang around with the boys all day," Ankama said.

- with files from Lorne Guy