TULALIP — The third time is usually a charm.

It’s not supposed to be the most difficult and exhausting of the three, but it was for Geeks in Sneaks, which won the grades 10-12 bracket at the I-5 Extravaganza 3-on-3 basketball tournament Aug. 15.

“It definitely was harder,” said Geeks post Lindsay Brown. “We had to play in a bigger division.”

Throw in 90 degree heat and needing to play two extra games due to an early loss on the second day of the tournament, and it wasn’t going to be easy for the Arlington High School sophomores to win their third consecutive championship.

Nevertheless, the four girls, consisting of Brown, Taylor Graham, Krista Showalter, and Marissa Swegle, did it again, defeating Fusion Green twice in the finals.

Geeks in Sneaks lost to Fusion Green earlier in the day, forcing them to beat the consolation bracket for a chance at the title. The second — and third — time was different.

“The first time, they had a really good girl who drained four (3-pointers), and they beat us,” said Showalter. “And we played better defense the next time.”

Capitalizing off opportune defense and quick passing, Geeks in Sneaks railroaded Fusion Green in both finals games. With Geeks already having one loss, they had to defeat Fusion twice to win, which was a tall order, having to play three 20 minute games in a little more than 90 minutes in 90 degree heat.

It was so hot that the group admitted that they almost didn’t want to have to play a second finals game.

“It was really hot, but we like winning more,” said Swegle.

This was the first year in four that Geeks didn’t face the Blues in the championship as they defeated them early in the first day of the competition. But there was a larger field for the Geeks to conquer, as the field opened up from just 10th graders to grades 10-12 due to lack of teams.

“We beat two juniors and two seniors (in the finals),” said Swegle. “I’m just really proud of that.”