CLEARFIELD -- It was still early Monday, just two hours into what's expected to be a game of at least 108 hours, and players moved across the court easily, smiling as they made baskets, bringing the score to a lopsided 104-36.
The goal of the event is twofold: Break a world record with 108 hours of continuous basketball playing and raise money for a good cause.
The Fallen Heroes Scholarship Foundation is attempting to set the world record for the longest continuous basketball game. The effort started at 9 a.m. Monday and should end around 10 p.m. Friday.
All proceeds are going to the scholarship fund intended for surviving family members of soldiers, firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty.
Officials have said the goal is to raise more than $50,000.
Each team -- one white, the other blue -- has five players on the court at a time. These players are of all ages and from as far away as Missouri.
Kasey Kennington, a 27-year-old teacher at Ogden Preparatory Academy, decided to play after he heard about the event through word of mouth.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a in world record-setting event," he said. "Besides, I love to play basketball."
Kennington plays basketball in his spare time several times a week, though he has never done anything like this before.
"We get to play basketball while helping raise money for a good cause," he said. "It's the best of both worlds."
The number of spectators varied, with many people filling the bleachers for the morning start. By 10 a.m., fewer people were in the stands, but there was a constant trickle of folks coming and going.
Patrick McReaken, of Layton, came to watch his son-in-law play. He said he would come by several times during the multiple-day event.
"It's a great thing," he said. "It's nice that people are willing to help out those who have done so much for us."
He said he could imagine that, by the end of the event, the players would be exhausted.
That's also exactly what 17-year-old Bruce Christy imagines, too.
The junior at Paradigm High School in Sandy said the event offers a rewarding and difficult challenge. He explained each team has 12 people, but only five on each side play at a time.
Each player's time on the court lasts roughly two hours, then he gets a 3 1/2-hour break. Players can sleep on cots or can eat and relax.
"Hopefully, it won't be too hard," Christy said.
Player T.J. Heap, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, is sure the event will be a great experience.
"It's a fun challenge," he said. "It will be hard but good because it is for a good cause."
The event, which is at the Clearfield Aquatic Center, 825 S. State St., is open to the public at no charge, though donations on admission are accepted.
All money raised goes to the scholarship fund.
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