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This past Friday and Saturday, Nike presented “The Hyperdunk Challenge” in Philadelphia and Washington D.C., matching up playground basketball all-stars from New York City against all-stars from Philadelphia and D.C. for a day of hoop, food, music and kicks.

All teams were outfitted in the new Hyperdunk sneakers. The Hyperdunks, released on July 26th, are the toughest, lightest basketball sneakers ever created and are made especially for the serious basketball player. “These are so light, I might actually be able to dunk now,” joked 6-10 New York center, Mark McCarroll, when he got his kicks.

When the team from New York arrived at Cherashore Playground (10th and Olney in north Philly), they were met with a tasty BBQ and a DJ. Representatives from BallersNetwork.com rolled in with the team, complete with computer stations, for event attendees to sign up for the network on the spot. The event also featured a Nike Hyperdunk truck, set up for fans to try on new Hyperdunk kicks and to dunk on roll-out rims in the park.

At the end of day though, this trip was all about hoop. The New York team dispatched of the Philly team by a score of 108-101, never trailing at any point. Mike “King of New York” Campbell led the New York squad with a team-high 20 points, while John “The Franchise” Strickland and Alexis “Flex” Foyle added 17 and 14 points respectively. Rashiem Wright led the Philadelphia team with 23 points and Aaron “AO” Owens, added 22 in the loss.

Once the game was wrapped, each team put their best three dunkers against NYC’s top three. After a some nice dunks by each player, it came down to a dunk off between New York’s Shanod “JFK” Burton and a Philly kid going solely by the name “Kemba.” Kemba got the home crowd going with a sick left-handed three-sixty dunk, but then JFK answered with a tomahawk where he took off just beyond the free-throw line and was eye level with the rim. Kemba came strong, but there he had nothing for the competition after JFK did his thing.

After the stop in Philadelphia, the New York team jumped on I-95 and headed to Washington D.C. where the Goodman League All-Stars were lying in wait. The fabled Goodman League, located in Barry Farms, is the top league in the D.C. area. Several NBA players including Gilbert Arenas, Kevin Durant, Sam Cassell and Steve Francis are all Goodman League regulars.

The D.C. team, led by former Syracuse star Lawrence “Poetry In” Moten and former Loyola College star Gerald Brown, jumped all over New York as soon as the game started. The energetic D.C. crowd played a big part early in the contest as D.C. raced out to a 30-18 lead. A 15-2 run sparked by the play of Alexis Foyle’s multiple two-handed put-back dunks, helped New York storm back to take a 33-32 halftime lead. It was a see-saw battle for the entire second half which led to an overtime period when New York Knick guard Nate Robinson, who suited up for the New York team, had his jumper rattle out at the buzzer. In the overtime set, a three-pointer by Mike Campbell with 20 seconds left gave New York the lead for good and they escaped with an 89-86 victory.

After the game, the NYC and D.C. crews held a heated dunk contest that came down to a battle between former Virginia Tech Hokie Bryant Matthews and – you guessed it - JFK. JFK, who has won so many dunk contests over the years that we’ve lost track of them all, erased any doubt of who the best high-flyer of the weekend was when he went for the kill with his signature dunk to finish off Matthews. JFK had an assistant hold the ball just beyond the free-throw line. He then ran and took the ball from the holder, reached back, touched his feet with his ball hand, and threw in a tough tomahawk that sent the pro-Matthews crowd into a frenzy. Kids and adults alike rushed JFK for autographs as he was declared the winner right there on the spot.

All in all, the weekend was a huge success - there was some great ball, good times and tons of players joined Ballers Network. Head over to the Facebook application now to be connected to guys like JFK and The Franchise. You can interact with other players from around the world and be a part of the Ballers Network revolution, the world’s first international tool to set up and run pickup games, leagues and tournaments, all while tracking your stats and progress.