During the UFO Festival, the first three-on-three basketball tournament and Battle of the Badges were held on West Walnut Street last weekend.
The event went from Friday through Saturday, with the Battle of the Badges, with the Roswell Police and Fire Department playing for bragging rights. Friendly trash talks were hurled across PA systems and among the crowd as the two departments ball out. The game is set up much like the Gus Macker tournaments: the team that is ahead after the 25-minute time limit wins in a double-elimination bracket.
Two fire department teams and three police teams competed in the event. RFD Firefighter Noah Reese from Roswell’s Station 2 and his team were coming back from a call and are just suiting up for the game that Friday.
“I’m excited. I’ve always loved the competition,” Reese said. “I’m always looking forward to some type of competition. So I’m looking forward to having a good time and showing these cops who’s the best.”
RPD Officer Seth Taylor said they could have played better after losing a game against one of the RFD teams but had fun.
“We’re the first loser so far, but it’s alright,” Taylor said. “[The tournament] was good. It could’ve been better, but you can’t control the weather. Since we can’t do that, it was as good as it could get, and we’re happy to be able to play. We are thankful that they invited us.”
Despite having fewer teams, the RFD took home the bragging rights for the first Battle of the Badges. Corey King, the event organizer, said that the Battle of the Badges Basketball Tournament would continue to be part of the UFO Festival, including a trophy for the winning team they get to keep until next year. King hopes to continue growing the scene for basketball lovers in Roswell.
The UFO Festival 3v3 Basketball Tournament, which included local high school players and out-of-town ballers, took place on Saturday. The first day consisted of a round-robin, followed by elimination games and finished off on Sunday for the championship games.
For the top women’s division, Team DTC consists of Roswell High School girls’ varsity players who won the bracket. The top men’s bracket played for $600 cash with players from local and nearby towns like Clovis and Portales. The “Uncrowned Kings” were undefeated until IBM took them out of the championship game. The boys’ team won the top high school division by going undefeated all weekend. In the boys’ team, ages 11-13, Who’s Next won both games on Sunday, battling overtime to win the championship. On the boys’ 8-10, it was between The Goats and Outa This World, in which the latter won with a 2-point dagger to win the game.
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