Players, spectators beat the heat

A sun hot enough to soften blacktop Sunday was no match for thousands of Hoopfest players as relatively few people visited the First Aid tents with heat-related illness and dehydration.

“We’ve been pushing water and ice packs,” said volunteer Pam Baynes, the Holy Family Hospital Emergency Department manager running the main aid station in Riverfront Park late Sunday afternoon. “We’ve not had to start any IVs yet.”

With hundreds of 3-on-3 basketball teams and temperatures that hung in the upper 90s all weekend, that’s a victory.

Baynes said she wasn’t aware of any heart attacks or major injuries. There were, of course, the standard blisters, abrasions and sprains that are part of the game.

The National Weather Service reported a temperature of 96 degrees about the time most teams either headed home or to watch the playoffs. By that time a weekend of scorching sun and heat had gotten to a few players who came to the medical tent for help, but nothing serious.

“I think the long weekend of heat is finally catching up to them,” Baynes said. “Especially some of the more elite players.”