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Team 23

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Heartfire
LeaguesThe Basketball Tournament
Founded2015
HistoryTeam 23
(2015–2019, 2021–present)
LocationPhoenix, Arizona
Team colorsCrimson, Black, and Grey
     
General managerMichael Illiano
Head coachLaPhanso Ellis
WebsiteTeam page

Heartfire is an American basketball team that competes in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), an annual winner-take-all competition. The team has competed in each tournament since 2015, except for 2020. The team is composed of players from Arizona. As of 2021, the team's general manager is Rutgers alumnus Michael Illiano, and the head coach is Marc Hughes, who previously coached Overseas Elite.[1] Team 23 was the tournament runner-up in 2015 and 2021.

History

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The team is named after Michael Jordan's primary uniform number during his professional career—Team 23's general manager Michael Illiano wrote that his "basketball passion started with MJ".[1]

2015

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After being accepted into TBT 2015 with 165 registered fans, Team 23 opened its tournament run by defeating the West Coast Ronin, 91–67. The team notched another win in the second round, against Richard Roby and Team Colorado, behind 28 points from Davin White, by a score of 78–72. White was effective once more as Team 23 bested Team B-Ball Breakdown in the following game, 86–72, pushing them to the Super 17 round in Chicago.[2]

At the Super 17, Team 23 defeated 7outz, 105–64, in their first game, allowing only two of their opponents' players to score over 10 points.[3] Team 23 made the semifinal round of the tournament after they won their fifth straight game by double figures. The losing team, LA Unified, missed one of their players, Ekene Ibekwe, and allowed Team 23 to score 11 straight points to begin the second half, en route to a 77–56 win.[4]

Team 23 entered the semifinals as the most efficient team of the tournament.[5] In New York City on August 1, they defeated Ants Alumni, 87–76, to advance to the championship game.[6] In the finals on August 2, Team 23 narrowly fell to Overseas Elite, 67–65.[7]

2016–2019

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In TBT 2016, Team 23 was the top seed in the West Region, played in Los Angeles. After winning their first two games, they fell to Team Colorado, the eventual tournament runner-up, by a score of 78–73.[8]

In TBT 2017, Team 23 was the fifth seed in the West Region, played in Las Vegas. They defeated 12th-seeded Pedro's Posse, 107–92, then lost to fourth-seeded Armored Athlete, 84–77.

In TBT 2018, Team 23 was the eighth seed in the West Region, played in Los Angeles. They lost in the first round to the ninth-seeded CitiTeam Blazers, 82–71.

In TBT 2019, Team 23 was the sixth seed in the Greensboro Regional.[9] They lost in the first round to third-seeded Power of the Paw (Clemson alumni), 82–78.[10]

The team did not compete in the reduced-size (24 teams) TBT 2020.

2021

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In TBT 2021, Team 23 was seeded sixth in the West Virginia Regional.[11] They defeated Georgia Kingz in the first round, 91–64,[12] Herd That in the second round, 74–71,[13][14] and second-seeded Best Virginia in the regional semifinals, 75–67.[15][16]

Team 23 next faced top-seeded Sideline Cancer in the regional final, registering a 78–71 win.[17][18] Team 23 then met Blue Collar U—who advanced from the Columbus Regional—in a tournament semifinal game on August 1; Team 23 won, 78–62.[19][20]

Team 23 met Boeheim's Army—who advanced from the Illinois Regional—in the championship game on August 78th; the game was won by Boeheim's Army, 69–67.[21]

2022

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In TBT 2022, The newly branded Heartfire was the first seed in the New Mexico regional. In the first round, they played Competitive Choice and won 84-75. In the 2nd round they played The Enchantment, (New Mexico alumni team) and won 79-74. In the third round, they played the LA Cheaters from the Drew League and won 86-72. In the fourth round, they played Blue Collar U (Buffalo alumni team) and lost 74-66

2023

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TBT 2022, Heartfire was the second seed in the Witchita 1 regional. In their first matchup they played Juco Products, (junior college alumni) and won 69-66. In their second matchup they played the LA Cheaters, (from the Drew league) and won 62-57. In their third matchup they played Mass Street, (Kansas alumni) and won 73-60. In their fourth matchup they played the Aftershocks, (Wichita State alumni) and won 76-53. In the semi-finals they played Herd That, (Marshall alumni) and won 73-68. In the Championship, they played Bleed Green, (North Texas alumni) and won 78-73.

Record by years

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Year Seed Won Lost Notes
2015 13th West 6 1 lost in final to Overseas Elite
2016 1st West 2 1 lost to Team Colorado
2017 5th West 1 1 lost to Armored Athlete
2018 8th West 0 1 lost to CitiTeam Blazers
2019 6th Greensboro 0 1 lost to Power of the Paw
2020 — 0 0 did not enter
2021 6th West Virginia 5 1 lost in final to Boeheim's Army
2022 1st New Mexico 3 1 lost in quarterfinals to Blue Collar U
2023 2nd Witchita 1 6 0 won in final to Bleed Green
2024 1st Dayton 2 1 lost in third round to Carmen's Crew
Total 23 7

Awards

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All-Tournament teams have been named since 2016; MVPs since 2014.

Year Player Award Ref.
2021 Raphiael Putney All-Tournament [22]
Marc Hughes All-Tournament (Coach)

Logo and uniforms

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  • Logo, 2015–current
    Logo, 2015–current
  • Uniforms, 2015–current
    Uniforms, 2015–current

Roster

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Main article: The Basketball Tournament 2021 squads – West Virginia Regional § No. 6 Team 23

References

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  1. ^ a b "Team 23". thetournament.com. 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  2. ^ "Results from The Basketball Tournament". thetournament.com. 2015. Archived from the original on September 1, 2015 – via Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ "Official Basketball Box Score: Team 23 vs 7outz". Imageshack. Retrieved 31 July 2015.[dead link]
  4. ^ "2015 Bracket". The Basketball Tournament. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  5. ^ "The Basketball Tournament Rosters: Meet The Final 4 Teams". Heavy.com. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Overseas Elite's Semifinal Win Over Team City Of Gods (Photos)". thetournament.com. August 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  7. ^ Connor, Desmond (August 3, 2015). "Overseas Elite Brings It Home". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. p. C3. Retrieved July 29, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Ronan, Patrick (2017). "TBT SPOTLIGHT: TEAM 23". Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  9. ^ "TBT Releases 2019 Teams and Bracket" (Press release). The Basketball Tournament. June 11, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  10. ^ "#3 POWER OF THE PAW 82, #6 TEAM 23 78". thetournament.com. July 19, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  11. ^ "Bracket". thetournament.com. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
  12. ^ "Scores".
  13. ^ "Scores".
  14. ^ "Herd That Come Up Short Against Team 23 At TBT". WVOW-FM. July 20, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  15. ^ "Scores".
  16. ^ "Best Virginia falls in regional final in TBT". WSAZ-TV. July 21, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  17. ^ "Scores".
  18. ^ "Sideline Cancer vs. Team 23". WWCP-TV. August 1, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  19. ^ "Scores".
  20. ^ Burtnett, Peter (August 1, 2021). "Sibert falls just short of 33-point contest final, TBT Championship Game set". flyernews.com. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  21. ^ McAllister, Mike (August 3, 2021). "Boeheim's Army Wins The Basketball Tournament". All Syracuse FN. Retrieved August 3, 2021 – via MSN.com.
  22. ^ @thetournament (August 3, 2021). "These guys were amazing all summer Introducing your TBT 2021 All-Tournament Team!" (Tweet). Retrieved August 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
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