Thousands turn out for 3-on-3 basketball tourney

See photos of the event

It was barely 10 a.m. and already asphalt sizzled under the blazing sun. Water bottles, like the hands clutching them, sweated. Other than buzzing dragonflies, everything lay still beneath the cloud of humidity that had enshrouded Elmont on a Friday in July. But the 3,900 people milling about the Dutch Broadway Elementary school were anything but sluggish: they spent the day shooting hoops, footing soccer balls, tossing the pigskin, scaling a portable rock-climbing wall and hopping around inflatable bounce houses.

No heat wave could have diminished their excitement — they had waited 364 days for the annual 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament and, finally, on that scorching Friday in July, it had come. For the seventh consecutive year, hundreds of children, teens and young adults, parents, community activists and legislators from Elmont, West Hempstead, Floral Park, Franklin Square and North Valley Stream, among others, came together for what has become known as the summer event in western Nassau County.

"The day was absolutely sensational," said Scott Cushing, the man who first started and has since continued to run the 3-on-3 tourney. "We had great weather, outstanding teams, a wide range of clinics and a lot of fun."

Always finding time to give instructions, lend a hand or just chat in the midst of the tournament's bustling activities, Cushing momentarily put down his camera and reflected. "This is an incredible show of support," he said, scanning the crowd. But that didn't come as a surprise to Cushing or to members of the 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament Committee, which is comprised in part of local high school students, because the community has always been supportive of their efforts.

Following the event, Cushing told the Herald he "couldn't be more proud of the job that was done, and the smiles on the faces of the children were all the thanks this committee needed."