(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE, Wash. -Update: After airing our story last night, our inbox was flooded with people wanting to help.
Today, we've found the newest addition to their team and final player needed to participate Saturday in Hoopfest- 16-year-old Tyler Callahan.
Hearing the story and hearing about how Hoopfest has been a big part of their family, really inspired me to help them out," Tyler told KHQ.
If you're interested in cheering the team, on you can catch them Saturday at 10 a.m. on court E6.
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Previous Coverage: Each year thousands of players come together for the world’s largest 3-on-3-basketball tournament, but one team is still missing their most valuable player.
Joey Anderson played at Hoopfest for a decade before passing away from brain cancer in 2013.
“It was really hard to watch Joey go,” said his mother, Cindy Anderson. “But to go back to Hoopfest every year and feel it again with Jessiah and feel like we’re there with Joey again means everything.”
Anderson’s younger brother, Jessiah, has played in his place ever since.
“Pretty much every time I play Hoopfest it’s all about my brother,” said Jessiah. “It’s a tradition that my brother did, I don’t want to ruin the tradition of my brother.”
The team hasn’t had trouble filling the three-man roster in past years, but after a few players recently dropped out, the team is now facing disqualification.
“We would love to get a couple days of good practices in so the kids could get to know each other,” said Anderson. “We just want someone with a good heart.”
Anderson says the player has to be 16 or 17-years-old. They have a third player for Sunday, but not Saturday. Contact joe.mchale@khq.com if you want to help keep this teams family tradition alive.