A packed Berlin High School gymnasium filled with dozens of 3-on-3 basketball teams started playing games at 4 p.m.
By 8:15 p.m., one team had won the first annual Ryan T. Lee 3-on-3 basketball tournament. The team of Kyle Zarotney, Tom Liberda and Steven Faulkner beat the team of Steven Glowiak, Richie Conway and Joe Colassale for the championship.
Organizers and founders Tim Cote and John McNair were happy with the turnout.
"We almost pulled the plug on this about a week ago because everybody said they were coming but we didn't have any registration in," McNair said. "But everyone came through and showed up."
There were former high school stars, former and current collegiate players, several 30-and-over players, some current high school players and one lone girls team from Berlin High School.
Lee's father, Dan, is the varsity basketball coach at Cheshire High School and many of his current and former players participated in the tournament.
"It tells you a lot about Ryan," McNair said. "He could be playing with high school or college players or five-year-old kids and he would go hard and try to win."
"He was a very competitive person," Cote said.
Earlier this week, Cote hosted 40 to 50 players for a miniature golf tournament. "It was great," Cote said. "We had a lot of fun and it was another way for people who don't play basketball or golf to be involved in remembering Ryan. Mini golf was one of Ryan's favorite things to do and every time he played it was like he was playing in The Masters. It turned out great."
The Second Annual Golf Tournament will be held Friday with 194 golfers and 80 more for dinner at Aqua Turf expected.
