All-Sandpoint semi-final highlights local Hoopfest 2017 action
(Photo by MORIAH AISPURO) Pictured from left to right at Hoopfest are Cole Fuhrman, Blake Mahler, Brandon Lawrence, Stefan Buratto, Mat Lawrence, Austin Laiche, Joel Aispuro and Darren Laiche.
(Photo by MORIAH AISPURO) Blake Mahler, left, and Joel Aispuro have played in nine Hoopfests together, claiming a whopping 11 championships between the friends.
Aispuro and Mahler claim fifth title playing together
By ERIC PLUMMER
Sports editor
SANDPOINT — Old friends collided, both literally and figuratively, when a pair of Sandpoint teams faced off in the semis of their Hoopfest bracket this weekend at the world’s biggest outdoor 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
How big, you ask? Even current NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant was in Spokane to soak up the Hoopfest atmosphere, drawing hordes of fans as he checked out the unique street tournament in person.
In the all-Sandpoint semi of the six-foot and over competitive division, Joel Aispuro, Blake Mahler and Darren and Austin Laiche won 20-13 over former Bulldog hoopsters Stefan Buratto, Mat Lawrence, Brandon Lawrence and Cole Fuhrman.
Aispuro, who won his sixth Hoopfest championship, said he had mixed emotions about the win, as he’s played with often with the competition that day.
“You love your friends, but at that time you want to win,” he said. “It was a bittersweet victory. There was tension, you could feel it in the air. We were pretty evenly matched. We just made more two pointers.”
Aispuro and Mahler graduated from Sandpoint together in 2005, and have been close friends since, including playing in eight Hoopfests together. Both have also played with Buratto, finishing second in the Elite Division of the men’s six-feet and under a few years ago.
Mahler, a three year starter for Sandpoint in both football and basketball as well as a state champion in the 300 hurdles, has shared five of the titles with Aispuro, who called his friend the Filipino Mamba on the court.
While the vertical declines and the quickness wanes, the desire to win is as strong as ever, and you don’t win a bunch of Hoopfests without it.
“He’s just a straight up winner, has been since high school. He has that Kobe mentality, that killer instinct. He wants it more,” described Aispuro of Mahler, noting it’s a bad idea to get him fired up. “He thrives on trash talking. He’s quite the baller, and he tore it up this weekend.”
Darren Laiche, who played in college for the University of New Orleans, was the team’s main rebounder, a huge key in 3-on-3, while his son Austin stepped up and hit some big baskets in the clutch.
Aispuro felt the team they beat in the finals wasn’t as good as the Sandpoint squad, but so it goes at Hoopfest, where you navigate the bracket you’re dealt.
While quick to give praise to his teammates, the humble Aispuro was brief when describing his contribution.
“My specialty is defense,” he claimed. “I try to lock down the other team’s best player.”