With a scoring average of 34 points per game, Rob Larose was named to the first all-star team at the annual Dick Hotch Tournament in Haines Alaska over the weekend.

Larose and the rest of the Young Guns crew finished the tournament with a 6-2 record, after running into a grueling schedule coming up the loser's side that saw them play five games Saturday, the last three back-to-back.

"And in the fifth game Saturday, we played the two-time defending champions, the Haines Merchants, and we lost by one point, 61-60."

The Haines Merchants, the Whitehorse businessman pointed out, have won the Dick Hotch in four of the last six years.

The only other Whitehorse team to attend the eight-team tournament was the Yukon Ballers, which finished with one win and three losses.

Larose said while the games can be low scoring in Alaska, particularly without a 25-second shot-clock to forces teams to move the ball in the offensive zone, it's not always that way.

In their first game, for instance, the Guns scored 147 points to handily defeat the Airfox team from Klukwan.

"I think if we were really fresh we could have taken it to that team," Larose said of Saturday's late night loss. "This was the best team we've taken there in eight years."

He said several of the Guns have moved to the Yukon from other parts of Canada where they've come through some pretty good basketball programs.

"We almost had a guy that played on the Austrailian National Team play for us but he got hurt before the tournament."

He said as usual there was plenty of talent from the Alaskan side of the border present as well, and like always Haines demonstrated again how a small town can host a great tournament.

Larose said the Guns were invited to next month's Gold Medal Tournament hosted by Juneau, and is the only team outside Alaska to get an invitation.

In fact, he pointed out, the organizers of the state's premier, week-long tournament, which sees some 60 teams enter, requires that players have a minimum two years of residency in Alaska.

Teams from Alaska keep asking when the Whitehorse clubs will be hosting a tournament, said Larose. He said the popularity of the Canada Games Centre is reaching across the border, and the Alaskan players want to come here with their kids to make a family trip out of it.

So the Whitehorse players are planning to see if they can organize a tournament here in April.

The other members of the Young Guns are: Anton Ramirez, Dave Kennedy, Karl Gruber, Matt Ireland, Matt Ireland, Chad Curlew and Brian White.

Members of the Yukon Ballers were: Dave Stehelin, Kevin Morrison, Richie Tran, Ben Williams, Chris Thomas and Ken Burns.