One team has reached the final game, while the other makes its semi-final debut.

HeartFIRE – then known as Team 23 – endured one-possession title game losses to Overseas Elite (2015) and Boeheim’s Army (2021). Now, these deep and talented hoopsters look to finally take home the prize. Heartfire has gotten stronger as the summer has continued. After a sluggish opening-round win over the Juco Products, Heartfire snuck by the LA Cheaters in Round 2 before impressive wins over both Mass Street (Kansas alumni) and the host AfterShocks (Wichita State alums) in the quarterfinals.

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Tevin Mack (11.8 ppg) and Marcus Hall (11.5 ppg), the second-leading scorer in TBT history, pace a balanced offensive attack. Raphiael Putney can protect the rim, and Craig Sword does a little bit of everything. 

Herd That won the West Virginia Regional by defeating cross-state rival Best Virginia then sending a talented Sideline Cancer squad home in Round 3. The Marshall University alumni squad then ran away from Boeheim’s Army in the quarterfinals to punch its first-ever ticket to the semi-finals in its fourth trip to TBT.

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Newcomer Rob Gray, whose game-high 20 points paced the offense in the quarterfinal win over Boeheim’s Army, has been as valuable a pickup as any this summer. Jon Elmore, Conference USA’s all-time leading scorer, has been the team’s rock again this summer, averaging 15.7 points per game, while James Kelly contributes 10.8 points and six rebounds per game.