# Heartfire (TBT)

Heartfire (formerly known as Team 23) is an American basketball team that competes in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), an annual winner-take-all competition. The team has competed in each tournament since 2015, except for 2020. The team is composed of players from Arizona. As of 2021, the team's general manager is Rutgers alumnus Michael Illiano, and the head coach is Marc Hughes, who previously coached Overseas Elite. The team were the tournament runners-up in 2015 and 2021, and won the championship in 2023.

## History

The team was originally named after Michael Jordan's primary uniform number during his professional career—Team 23's general manager Michael Illiano wrote that his "basketball passion started with MJ".

### 2015

After being accepted into TBT 2015 with 165 registered fans, Team 23 opened its tournament run by defeating the West Coast Ronin, 91–67. The team notched another win in the second round, against Richard Roby and Team Colorado, behind 28 points from Davin White, by a score of 78–72. White was effective once more as Team 23 bested Team B-Ball Breakdown in the following game, 86–72, pushing them to the Super 17 round in Chicago.
At the Super 17, Team 23 defeated 7outz, 105–64, in their first game, allowing only two of their opponents' players to score over 10 points. Team 23 made the semifinal round of the tournament after they won their fifth straight game by double figures. The losing team, LA Unified, missed one of their players, Ekene Ibekwe, and allowed Team 23 to score 11 straight points to begin the second half, en route to a 77–56 win.
Team 23 entered the semifinals as the most efficient team of the tournament. In New York City on August 1, they defeated Ants Alumni, 87–76, to advance to the championship game. In the finals on August 2, Team 23 narrowly fell to Overseas Elite, 67–65.

#### Games

| Date | Round | Location | Score | Opponent | Opponent | Ref. |
| Date | Round | Location | Score | Team | Seed | Ref. |
| July 10 | Regional | Los Angeles, CA | 91–67 | West Coast Ronin | West No. 19 | |
| July 11 | Regional | Los Angeles, CA | 78–72 | Team Colorado | West No. 4 | |
| July 12 | Regional | Los Angeles, CA | 86–72 | Team B-Ball Breakdown | West No. 11 | |
| July 17 | Super 17 | Chicago, IL | 105–64 | 7outz | West No. 9 | |
| July 23 | Quarterfinals | Chicago, IL | 77–56 | LA Unified | West No. 2 | |
| August 1 | Semifinals | New York, NY | 87–76 | Ants Alumni | Midwest No. 2 | |
| August 2 | Finals | New York, NY | 65–67 | Overseas Elite | South No. 3 | |

#### Roster

Source:

### 2016–2019

In TBT 2016, Team 23 was the top seed in the West Region, played in Los Angeles. After winning their first two games, they fell to Team Colorado, the eventual tournament runner-up, by a score of 78–73.

#### Games

| Date | Round | Location | Score | Opponent | Opponent | Ref. |
| Date | Round | Location | Score | Team | Seed | Ref. |
| July 9 | Regional | Los Angeles, CA | 121–81 | Kimchi Express | West No. | |
| July 10 | Regional | Los Angeles, CA | 101–88 | New Mexico RH | West No. | |
| July 11 | Regional | Los Angeles, CA | 73–78 | Team Colorado | West No. 5 | |
In TBT 2017, Team 23 was the fifth seed in the West Region, played in Las Vegas. They defeated 12th-seeded Pedro's Posse, 107–92, then lost to fourth-seeded Armored Athlete, 84–77.

#### Games

| Date | Round | Location | Score | Opponent | Opponent | Ref. |
| Date | Round | Location | Score | Team | Seed | Ref. |
| July 8 | Regional | Las Vegas, NV | 107–92 | Pedro's Posse | West No. 12 | |
| July 9 | Regional | Las Vegas, NV | 77–84 | Armored Athlete | West No. 4 | |
In TBT 2018, Team 23 was the eighth seed in the West Region, played in Los Angeles. They lost in the first round to the ninth-seeded CitiTeam Blazers, 82–71.

#### Games

| Date | Round | Location | Score | Opponent | Opponent | Ref. |
| Date | Round | Location | Score | Team | Seed | Ref. |
| July 14 | Regional | Los Angeles, CA | 71–82 | CitiTeam Blazers | West No. 9 | |

#### Roster

Source:
In TBT 2019, Team 23 was the sixth seed in the Greensboro Regional. They lost in the first round to third-seeded Power of the Paw (Clemson alumni), 82–78.

#### Games

| Date | Round | Location | Score | Opponent | Opponent | Ref. |
| Date | Round | Location | Score | Team | Seed | Ref. |
| July 19 | Regional | Los Angeles, CA | 78–82 | Power of the Paw | Greensboro No. 3 | |
The team did not compete in the reduced-size (24 teams) TBT 2020.

### 2021

In TBT 2021, Team 23 was seeded sixth in the West Virginia Regional. They defeated Georgia Kingz in the first round, 91–64, Herd That in the second round, 74–71, and second-seeded Best Virginia in the regional semifinals, 75–67.
Team 23 next faced top-seeded Sideline Cancer in the regional final, registering a 78–71 win. Team 23 then met Blue Collar U—who advanced from the Columbus Regional—in a tournament semifinal game on August 1; Team 23 won, 78–62.
Team 23 met Boeheim's Army—who advanced from the Illinois Regional—in the championship game on August 78th; the game was won by Boeheim's Army, 69–67.

#### Games

| Date | Round | Location | Score | Opponent | Opponent | Ref. |
| Date | Round | Location | Score | Team | Seed | Ref. |
| July 17 | First round | Charleston, WV | 91–64 | Georgia Kingz | West Virginia No. 11 | |
| July 19 | Second round | Charleston, WV | 74–71 | Herd That | West Virginia No. 3 | |
| July 21 | Regional semifinals | Charleston, WV | 75–67 | Best Virginia | West Virginia No. 2 | |
| July 31 | Regional finals | Dayton, OH | 78–71 | Sideline Cancer | West Virginia No. 1 | |
| August 1 | Semifinals | Dayton, OH | 78–62 | Blue Collar U | Ohio No. 6 | |
| August 3 | Championship | Dayton, OH | 67–69 | Boeheim's Army | Illinois No. 3 | |

#### Roster

Source:

### 2022

In TBT 2022, The newly branded Heartfire was the first seed in the New Mexico regional. In the first round, they played Competitive Choice and won 84-75. In the 2nd round they played The Enchantment, (New Mexico alumni team) and won 79-74. In the third round, they played the LA Cheaters from the Drew League and won 86-72. In the fourth round, they played Blue Collar U (Buffalo alumni team) and lost 74-66

#### Games

| Date | Round | Location | Score | Opponent | Opponent | Ref. |
| Date | Round | Location | Score | Team | Seed | Ref. |
| July 18 | First round | Albuquerque, NM | 84–75 | Competitive Choice | New Mexico No. 8 | |
| July 19 | Second round | Albuquerque, NM | 79–74 | The Enchantment | New Mexico No. 4 | |
| July 21 | Third round | Albuquerque, NM | 86–72 | LA Cheaters | New Mexico No. 3 | |
| July 29 | Quarterfinals | Dayton, OH | 66–74 | Blue Collar U | Syracuse No. 2 | |

### 2023

TBT 2023, Heartfire was the second seed in the Witchita 1 regional. In their first matchup they played Juco Products, (junior college alumni) and won 69-66. In their second matchup they played the LA Cheaters, (from the Drew league) and won 62-57. In their third matchup they played Mass Street, (Kansas alumni) and won 73-60. In their fourth matchup they played the Aftershocks, (Wichita State alumni) and won 76-53. In the semi-finals they played Herd That, (Marshall alumni) and won 73-68. In the Championship, they played Bleed Green, (North Texas alumni) and won 78-73.

#### Games

| Date | Round | Location | Score | Opponent | Opponent | Ref. |
| Date | Round | Location | Score | Team | Seed | Ref. |
| July 19 | First round | Wichita, KS | 69–66 | JUCO Products | Wichita 1 No. 7 | |
| July 22 | Second round | Wichita, KS | 62–57 | LA Cheaters | Wichita 1 No. 3 | |
| July 23 | Third round | Wichita, KS | 73–60 | Mass Street | Wichita 1 No. 1 | |
| July 25 | Quarterfinals | Wichita, KS | 76–53 | Aftershocks | Wichita 2 No. 1 | |
| August 2 | Semifinals | Philadelphia, PA | 73–68 | Herd That | West Virginia No. 4 | |
| August 3 | Championship | Philadelphia, PA | 78–73 | Bleed Green | Lubbock No. 2 | |

#### Roster

Source:

### 2024
#### Games

| Date | Round | Location | Score | Opponent | Opponent | Ref. |
| Date | Round | Location | Score | Team | Seed | Ref. |
| July 20 | First round | Dayton, OH | 68–64 | Rise and Grind | Dayton No. 8 | |
| July 22 | Second round | Dayton, OH | 70–68 | We Are D3 | Dayton No. 4 | |
| July 24 | Third round | Dayton, OH | 70–74 | Carmen's Crew | Dayton No. 3 | |

#### Roster

Source:

## Record by years

| Year | Seed | Won | Lost | Notes |
| 2015 | 13th West | 6 | 1 | lost in final to Overseas Elite |
| 2016 | 1st West | 2 | 1 | lost to Team Colorado |
| 2017 | 5th West | 1 | 1 | lost to Armored Athlete |
| 2018 | 8th West | 0 | 1 | lost to CitiTeam Blazers |
| 2019 | 6th Greensboro | 0 | 1 | lost to Power of the Paw |
| 2020 | — | 0 | 0 | did not enter |
| 2021 | 6th West Virginia | 5 | 1 | lost in final to Boeheim's Army |
| 2022 | 1st New Mexico | 3 | 1 | lost in quarterfinals to Blue Collar U |
| 2023 | 2nd Witchita 1 | 6 | 0 | won in final over Bleed Green |
| 2024 | 1st Dayton | 2 | 1 | lost in third round to Carmen's Crew |
| Total | Total | 23 | 7 | |

## Awards

All-Tournament teams have been named since 2016; MVPs since 2014.
| Year | Player | Award | Ref. |
| 2021 | Raphiael Putney | All-Tournament | |
| 2021 | Marc Hughes | All-Tournament (Coach) | |

## Logo and uniforms

* Logo, 2015–2021
* Uniforms, 2015–2021