Finsbury Park gave a warm welcome to the annual hosting of the final stint of the JD Ball Out 3x3 National Tour recently.

A half-court version of the sport, 3-on-3 basketball (3x3) has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity in the UK after England's men won gold at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The National Tour attracted around 3,000 players across all events, showcasing the highest standard of non-professional basketball in the UK.

However, it was the crown jewels in the Finsbury Park finals that were really something to behold.

The U16 and U18 girls' and boys' competitions were held on the first day, while the second day saw competitions in men and women’s 3x3 as well as an NBA-standard dunk contest.

With the cameras rolling the men’s final saw John Lashley’s 'London Enforcers’ retain their incumbent title after a challenging clash with ‘Team Loaded’.

And Lashley, who has represented London Lions, currently the best team in Britain at the professional level, played a crucial role in the victory.

The dunk contest saw sky-cleaving throwdowns from some of the springiest men in Europe, but despite the best efforts of home-town favourite Joel Henry, better known as the ‘Royal Guard’, the victory went to returning champ ‘Grabo’ after he managed to soar over six people and dunk the ball with authority.

In response to low centralised funding for the full 5v5 sport, gold medal-winning coach and Ball-Out founder Julius Joseph believes 3x3 has become a 'key motor for the development of basketball' in the UK.

Joseph attributes this to 'its simplicity both in terms of rules, and in terms of required facilities' and many would go one further and say that 3x3 isn’t simply a ‘key motor’ but is in fact the guiding light in the development of the sport, with Ball Out at the very forefront.

As interest from the public continues to increase, and more sponsors begin to see the potential value that UK Basketball can offer them, all eyes turn to next year's event.