The College of the Canyons Foundation hosted its third annual 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament Sunday morning at COC’s Valencia campus.
According to event chair Taylor Kellstrom, who was sporting a Los Angeles Lakers Luka Dončić T-shirt, this year’s event was the biggest one to date with about 60 participants making up 10 teams and raising just under $4,000.
The funds collected, Kellstrom said, will directly support the COC Foundation in its mission to assist students and the college community.
“We wanted to do something that maybe brought a different type of demographic into seeing what the college does,” he said, still a little out of breath after having played a 3-on-3 game. “We have people who are 50 years old playing, and students playing. It ranges, which makes it really cool.”
Kellstrom and his team had just lost a game. He wasn’t discouraged a bit, though, adding that it was just a warm-up game and that he was going to “win the whole thing.”
One of his teammates, Jacques Saint Fleur of Canyon Country, said he regularly plays basketball with some of the guys who came out on Sunday. He was glad to play basketball with friends and raise money for a good cause. He wasn’t so glad to take his first “L.”
“It’s an uphill fight from now on,” he said with a laugh. “They put the pressure on us early.”
Kyle Santiago of Saugus was on the team that beat them. He heard about the tournament from a friend. He said he’d just returned from college — he went to San Diego State — and he was looking to get back into playing basketball.
Tyler Ayers, who told Santiago about the tournament, said it was a win-win as they could have fun playing ball while also raising money for a good cause. As he waited for the next matchup, he was ready for even more wins.
According to its website, the COC Foundation strives to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars through various scholarships, emergency funds to students in times of greatest need, and innovative, groundbreaking facilities and programs. For more information, go to COCfoundation.com.
