Champions Crowned at 38th Annual Forest City Alumni Basketball Tournament

This past weekend, Forest City alumni returned to North Iowa for the 38th Annual Forest City Alumni Basketball Tournament. The annual event brings back Forest City graduates as they compete for bragging rights, class supremacy, and the highly coveted championship t-shirt. This year, 15 teams competed in three different brackets, separated by age. Teams ranged from last year’s Class of 2025, all the way back to a team consisting of graduates from the 1980s.

The games began Friday night and continued Saturday into the early afternoon until only two teams remained in the double-elimination brackets. The championship games were played Sunday at the Sue Edmondson Civic Auditorium. In the 1980s-2005 bracket, it was 2000-2001 facing 2002-2005 for the championship. In the 2006-2018 bracket, 2006-2007 squared off against 2011-2013. Lastly, in the 2020-2025 bracket, 2021 battled 2025.

In the first championship, 2000-2001 and 2002-2005 were facing off for the second time in the tournament, as they had met on Friday night with 2002-2005 getting the best of their opponent on opening night. 2002-2005 made their way through the winner’s bracket to make it to Sunday, while 2000-2001 battled through the bottom side of the bracket to get to the championship game. 2000-2001 got off to a hot start, leading the game 10-2 before 2002-2005 started making shots of their own. At the half, 2002-2005 led the game 31-19. In the second half, 2002-2005 pushed their lead up to 44-28 before 2000-2001 tried to make one final run, cutting the deficit to 8 with just under one minute left. But 2002-2005’s offensive firepower was too much, as they held on to win the game 53-41.

The second championship of the day pitted 2006-2007 against 2011-2013. 2006-2007 made their way through the winner’s bracket by defeating 2015 on Friday night, before taking care of 2016-2017 and 2018 on Saturday. 2011-2013 fell in their first game of the tournament to 2018 before making their way through the bottom side of the bracket and eliminating 2015 and 2016-2017. They then got revenge on 2018, eliminating them as well, securing their spot in the championship.

The first half was a back and forth affair, as no team was quite able to get too much separation on the scoreboard. After 15 minutes, 2006-2007 held a slim one-point advantage, leading 2011-2013 by a score of 21-20. The second half was more of the same, as each team held strong defensively. With under a minute left, 2006-2007 held a five point lead. 2011-2013 was able to earn a trip to the free throw line, but could not convert. On the other end, 2006-2007 hit their free throws, as they held on to win 38-29, earning themselves an alumni championship.

The final game of the tournament pitted 2021 against the freshly graduated team of 2025. Like the first championship game, these teams had already faced each other in the tournament with 2021 claiming a 2-point victory over 2025 on Friday night. 2025 was able to win all three games Saturday on the bottom side of the bracket to set up a rematch. In this rematch, the first half was dominated by 2021, as they played stellar defense. After the first 15 minutes, 2021 led 15-4. In the second half however, the script was flipped as 2025 came out on fire, at one point taking a 30-20 lead on an extended 26-5 run. Some late game shots by 2021 made the ending a little interesting, but 2025 was able to hold on to win 32-28.

Because this was 2021’s first loss of the tournament, another short, 10-minute, winner-take-all game would be played. In that game, 2021 got off to a hot start, leading 7-0 after just two minutes. But 2025’s defense locked in and their offense started chipping away at the deficit. A free throw by 2025 tied the game at 7-7 with under a minute left. With no shot clock, both teams were very methodical with their shot selection. However, both sides just missed go-ahead shots, and 2025’s shot at the buzzer fell off the rim. This winner-take-all game would continue. The overtime period was a short, three minute period. Again, with no shot clock, both teams were very selective with their shots. 2021 made a couple of free throws and 2025 had an elbow jump shot fall. A tied ball with 1.3 seconds left gave 2021 a chance at a buzzer beater, but like at the end of regulation, that shot was off the mark. So, they headed to a second overtime period, with the game tied 9-9. In the second overtime, 2025 got the scoring started with a baseline jumper with 1:35 left. After 2021 was unable to answer on the other end, they were forced to foul and send 2025 to the free throw line, as the clock was down to 30 seconds. 2025 was unable to make the free throws though, giving 2021 a shot. Trying to work the clock down and find an open look was difficult for 2021 as 2025 kept playing tight defense. Then, with just 2.1 seconds left, 2021 set a screen to set up a deep, desperation three point shot from the volleyball line on the court. The shot went in and 2021 suddenly had a one point lead. The inbounds and subsequent half-court heave by 2025 came up short, and 2021 claim victory in the marathon championship game, winning 12-11. With the win, 2021 secured their 4th straight alumni championship.

With that, the 38th Annual Forest City Alumni Basketball Tournament was complete, as 2002-2005, 2006-2007 and 2021 were crowned this year’s champions. The Forest City Alumni Basketball Tournament will return next April.