Primetime Development and Casual Work were untouchable in taking first place at the Red Bull 3X Philadelphia local qualifier, winning their final matches against top notch squads from Chicago and Houston, respectively. USA Basketball and Red Bull offer these events to grow 3x3 basketball in the United States and to give elite male and female athletes a chance to be evaluated for further competitions.

Primetime Development dominated the women’s bracket, never losing a game on the day. They played with a physical, tenacious style you’ll find at pick-up games in the city of brotherly love. They suffocated their opponents on defense all day, including in the Finals where they beat team Chicago Force 10 by a score of 10-5.

Former Penn State Lion Dara Taylor captained the winning team, making it the second Red Bull 3X Philadelphia qualifier in a row where a PSU hooper stood atop the podium. Dara’s former teammate Maggie Lucas led her team to a win at Red Bull 3X in 2019.

“I know we have to score points, but our main goal was to go out and defend,” said Taylor. “It’s a short clock, so if we can just defend hard we have a good chance to win.”

The men’s final saw Philly’s Casual Work face off against Houston’s Athletes and Assets, and winning in convincing fashion, 21-9. Legend Lawson is the team’s spark plug and a sharpshooter from beyond the arc. He’s a 3x3 veteran, which he thinks paid dividends in the tournament.

“We played hard, and we stayed composed,” Lawson said. “Most of us are pros overseas, so we know if we get down a couple points, don’t get nervous. Around the halfway point a lot of these teams got tired, and we know if we just kept up the intensity and played hard things would pay off.”

It paid off in a big way for the hometown team. In the semifinals they also knocked out the No. 1 seed, team NY Harlem, a top ranked FIBA squad led by USA Basketball 3x3 Men’s National Team member Dominique “Disco Domo” Jones. The route to any victory at Red Bull 3X will mean defeating extremely skilled competition in each round.

3x3 is played on a half court with a 10-minute game clock and 12-second shot clock, where the winner is the first team to score 21 points or the team in the lead at the end of regulation. The bursts of action and short games leave little room for error, and teams that catch fire become very hard to handle with all the court space 3x3 allows players.

With the Philadelphia Red Bull 3X qualifier down, the search continues to help identify players who could potentially represent USA Basketball 3x3 Men’s and Women’s National teams in the future.

The winning teams at all of this season’s local qualifiers advance to the Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Regionals in the fall, and potentially to the Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Nationals, which will help determine the talent pool used to select the USA 3x3 Men’s and Women’s National Teams.

Registration for every event remains open till tipoff for anyone who wants their shot at being 3x3 basketball’s next star. For more information, please visit www.redbull.com/3X.

RED BULL 3X (Philadelphia)
MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
1. Casual Work - Legend Lawson, Pete Brown, Anthony Becton, Carl Wallace
2. Athletes and Assets - Noah Lack, Chris McDonald, Chandler Simon, Quennel Francis

WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
1. Primetime Development - Dara Taylor, Shante Evans, Joy Adams, Tanesha Sutton
2. Chicago Force 10 - Brittany Brown, Natalie Kuchwski, N'dea Jones, Jordan Reynolds