Jump shots, records fall at hot Hoops on the River

It was another record-setting day in Vancouver on Saturday.

For the third straight day, Vancouver set a record for highest temperature, and the Hoops on the River 3-on-3 basketball tournament hosted 285 teams, about 60 more than last year. It was the highest total since One Team Kids Foundation took over the event from Share three years ago and moved it to Esther Short Park and surrounding streets to deal with the tournament’s growth.

While basketball players from around the country packed Esther Short Park, temperatures reached 98 degrees Saturday, surpassing the previous record of 96 degrees set in 1951. Thursday set a record at 98 degrees, and Friday’s record heat reached 99 degrees .

Andy Bryant, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Portland, said the temperature should cool a bit, with a forecast calling for a high of 82 degrees Sunday and 77 degrees Monday. Bryant said the forecast also calls for a gradual warming trend through the week next week with highs in the mid-90s by the end of the week.

“The big driver for our temperatures is which way is the wind blowing,” Bryant said. “If we have on-shore flow and some degree of marine air influence, that tends to modify our temperatures. We’ve had some offshore flow, winds from the east, which eliminates that marine influence. We’ve gotten some hotter air from east of the Columbia Gorge. That gave us three really hot days.”

The heat wave caused Hoops on the River organizers to take some extra precautions.

“The heat thing kind of caught us off guard,” said Eric Anderson, president of One Team Kids Foundation. “We found out about a week ago, and made sure to check with (American Medical Response) that they’d bring enough staff to deal with the heat, and Corwin increased the amount of water donated for the event, so we have stacks of water and every court has a water station.”

The organizers also rented two mist tents, which were quite popular for people to walk under for some quick relief, or stand under for a longer soak. The announcer at the event constantly reminded players and spectators to stay hydrated.

There were some other ways for staying cool, too. Ashton Moore, 7, of Battle Ground jumped around in the fountain at Esther Short Park with his brother, Jaxson Moore, 2.

Makenna Rhode, 6, and her father, BJ Rhode, of Eugene, Ore., enjoyed two cones of shave ice, like plenty others on Saturday. Throughout the afternoon, the shave ice booth had arguably the longest line of any vendor. Rhode’s two other children were playing the tournament, and he said besides drinking water, he and Makenna were keeping cool by finding shaded areas to sit at each court.

“There are a lot of trees around,” he said. “There are places to hide.”

While many of the courts were out in the sun, a few courts along West Eighth Avenue were shaded, much to the enjoyment of Jaiden O’Neal, who was playing the tournament with his team, Kinfolkz.

“I like the atmosphere of the tournament,” said Wyryor Noil, 17, of Portland, another member of Kinfolkz. “It’s a nice vibe.”