What resulted from that hard work was a perfect "10" in gymnastic-speak;  A slam dunk in basketball terms; A home run in baseball.

And while those who constructed the event from start to finish should take great pride in the fruits that their efforts produced, it was a culmination of a vast community effort buoyed by volunteers from the Hiland Booster Club, to local businesses who sponsored -- some  with no apparent rewards to reap -- to the players and coaches themselves, who put on such a fantastic show.

It was a total team effort by one very large team.

"We were so pleased with the way things turned out," said Schlabach.  "We had such an outstanding effort by the community.  This is a victory for them.  The sponsors were unbelievable.  The Amish Flea Market was our biggest sponsor, and they were closed during the weekend.  This brought a lot of people into the area who might have been visiting this community for the first time, and they were treated great by everyone."

At present, an estimated 5,000-plus fans jammed into the Reese Center over the three-day event to see some pretty incredible basketball.

The financial ramifications are not known, and may never be fully realized, but the visitors who stayed here, ate and paid to watch basketball in Holmes County during that span are bound to return, whether it is next year, or this summer, so that they can see some of the numerous sites they didn't have time to take in over the weekend.

Duane Yoder of Homestead Restaurant said they had a very good weekend for this time of the year.

"We offered some special rates, and out of the 33 teams, more than half of them came in here to eat," said Yoder.  "We kept it pretty low key with only the buffet, but I think that it was a part of treating the people to something special."

Across the road, Comfort Inn manager Kent Miller said that it was full speed ahead for everyone at the Inn.

"From our standpoint, this was a very positive weekend," said Miller.  "We had teams here, parents and scouts here, and we heard nothing but positive comments about our entire community and the event.  And this is just a great time of the year to do something like this, too.

"Plus, if you look at all the places they weren't able to visit but would like to, I'm sure it will bring people back again and again.  Everyone wins from this."

"This was definitely a win-win situation for everyone involved," said Jenkins, who admitted days later that he was still in recovery mode after the intense three day extravaganza.

"You want everything to be perfect," he continued.  "You want people to leave talking about how they can't wait to come back next year.  You do that by providing an electric atmosphere, and they got that from the moment they arrived here.  The volunteers were incredible."

Many of those volunteers were members of the Hiland Athletic Booster Club, who swarmed around the arena meeting teams as they got off their bus, showing them around the facility, ushering them to meals and offering any information that the teams or scouts might need.

"We've got a super group of athletic boosters to work with," said Mishler, who said he is now in a frenzy to catch up after months of hard work on the event.  "The one thing we can offer at no real cost is hospitality, and that is something that people recognize and are drawn to.  This was great for our community and great for the county."

While those who helped put the"nuts and bolts" of the event together were thrilled with both the turnout and how the entire weekend unfolded, the coaches and scouts were just as enamored with the way things progressed throughout the weekend.

"Everyone is already trying to make sure they have a spot in next year's event," said Jenkins.

"The first year we sent out 99 invitations and got 33 back.  This time we sent out 58 and got back 48.  We're already overbooked for next year with teams wanting to get in.

"Dayton Chaminade-Julienne wasn't sure they wanted to come back before the weekend.  Now they called and said they definitely want in.  That's one of the top teams in the nation.  This weekend just exceeded all of my expectations.  It was great basketball that was hard to walk away from on any of the three days.

Wadsworth and Brookhaven are already talking about a rematch next year (Wadsworth won this year, 41-38).  Some of next year's top schools are banging on the door to get in.  Teams like North Canton Hoover, Mifflin and Orrville, Cincinnati Princeton, an early favorite for the Division I state title next year is slated to attend with its super sophomore class one year wiser.  And of course all the teams from this year's event would love to come back.

"Teams are absolutely excited about getting in this thing," said Jenkins.

"It was pretty magical.  The community simply embraced this thing from the beginning, and it took on the identity of the people here.  Always polite, considerate and hospitable.  That's what made it such a quality venue."

"We did hear a lot of very positive comments from a lot of people," said Schlabach.  "There is about three times as many teams wanting in than we have games available.  It's exciting to see.  Hopefully we'll be able to bring in two or three nationally ranked teams eventually.  It was a very special weekend that stemmed from the support we got from the community.  They made it happen as much as anyone.

"It was just a great combination of talent, teams, competition, community support, hospitality and atmosphere that made it was it was."