La Conner boys play Spokane's giant Hoopfest

Basketball has always been a big deal in La Conner.

But in Spokane it's a really big deal. Bigger, in fact, than almost anywhere else.

As has been the case every June since 1990, thousands of hoops players and enthusiasts crowded into downtown Spokane last weekend for the largest outdoor three-on-three basketball tournament in the world.

La Conner wasn't left out.

La Conner High School girls' basketball head coach Joe Harper entered a local third grade boys' team in the 2024 Spokane Hoopfest, a group comprised of his son, Roman Harper, plus Greyson Delage, Cassius Landworth and Randall Reynolds.

The La Conner lineup won three of five contests and finished one win shy of making the finals in its division.

Their tourney highlight came Saturday when Roman Harper stole a pass and drained a long jumper as time expired to clinch a one-point La Conner triumph.

"This is such a great experience for these boys to play in this setting," coach Harper said afterward.

He noted that over the course of the two-day tournament, each La Conner player reached the scoring column and enjoyed competing before spectators who lined the team's "home court" across the street from Spokane's towering city hall.

Hoopfest was launched when Spokane civic leaders sought an early summer event that could raise funds for Special Olympics programs and draw tourists to the city.

The early years of Hoopfest were modest by today's ­standards.

"I'm sure that if we'd known about it back then that we would've been at Hoopfest," said Harper, a 1994 Monroe High School graduate who played for the Bearcats.

These days, Hoopfest is no secret. It regularly attracts 7,000 teams, enlists 3,000 volunteers and covers nearly 50 city blocks.

Perhaps most impressive is that Hoopfest brings in an estimated $47 million for the local economy.

Its success also cashes in on celebrity participation.

Among the 2024 Hoopfest attendees was former Seattle Sonics legend Gary Payton, who signed autographs in the afternoon heat under a Dick's Sporting Goods canopy for a half-hour on Saturday.

Payton also served as a judge for Hoopfest's popular slam-dunk contest.

For Harper, Hoopfest was the second leg of an extended basketball "vacation" in Eastern Washington. Prior to Hoopfest, he had signed up La Conner High School's girls' basketball team for a summer camp at Newport, an hour north of Spokane.

Harper, his wife, Coral, and Roman made the trip with their family camp trailer, making overnight stops at the homes of friends on both sides of the Washington/Idaho border.

With Hoopfest attracting more than a quarter-million people, the Harpers had plenty of company on the road to and from Spokane.

They hope to return in about eight months for the Washington State 2B Girls' Hardwood Classic at the Spokane Arena, where the Braves placed second in 2020 and fourth in 2022 and 2023.