Season two of the 3×3 league Unrivaled concluded on March 4 with No. 2 seed Mist BC (Basketball Club) defeating the top seeded Phantom BC 80–74 for the championship held at Sephora Arena in Medley, Florida just outside of Miami. Breanna Stewart had 32 points and was named MVP.
“I’m really happy to be able to win here, especially how last year went,” said Stewart, co-founder of Unrivaled. “The Misties were a little bit not as good (the Mist failed to qualify for the playoffs in season one), but also playing through injury. So, being healthy and being back playing, I’m really happy to win for my teammates.”
Stewart said some of her teammates even asked how to spray the champagne. “That moment of winning, when you feel that the first time, you don’t forget it, and then you want to keep feeling it,” said Stewart, who has won at every level with four NCAA Championships, three WNBA Championships and three Olympic gold medals to her name. “I pride myself on being a winner and continuing to uplift and build a space for all players.”
The other members of the Mist were Allisha Gray, Veronica Burton, Arike Ogunbowale, Li Yueru, and Alanna Smith. “The character in this group and the winning mentality, the winning history in this group, I think they’ve seen every situation. They know how to close these games,” said Mist head coach Zach O’Brien.
Phantom put up a ferocious fight with Kelsey Plum in her first season with Unrivaled scoring 40 points and setting a new league playoff record. Rookie Kiki Iriafen had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
“Unrivaled has been a tremendous success from year one to year two,” said Stewart. “I think what this league has proved about itself is, obviously from the business aspect you see the money, the numbers, everything going up. Also, you see the level of play from year one to year two.”
Unrivaled is based in Miami, but this season the league took two road trips — one to Philadelphia mid-season and last week to Brooklyn, playing its semi-final games before a sold out crowd at Barclays Center. Phantom defeated Vinyl and Mist defeated Breeze to advance to the championship game.
“Shout out to the fans,” said Stewart. “Whether we’re here at our home base or we’re in Brooklyn or we’re in Philly, people continue to show up and support us.”
Chelsea Gray, who won the league’s one-on-one tournament, was named season MVP. Aliyah Boston was Unrivaled Defensive Player of the Year. First Team All-Unrivaled was Gray, Paige Bueckers and Plum. Second Team was Boston, Allisha Gray and Brittney Sykes.