The ninth annual Taylor Press 3-on-3 basketball tournament is just a week away. Teams will be given one extra day to sign up.
“We want as many people to sign up as we can,” said Jason Hennington, publisher and tournament director. “Time is running out.”
Due to the July Fourth holiday Monday, Hennington extended the deadline from July 6 to July 7.
This year’s event will be at the Taylor Middle School, 304 Carlos Parker Blvd. This is the second time the tournament has been played at the middle school.
“In 2015, when we had the tournament at the middle school, we had 37 teams,” Hennington said. “That’s the most teams we’ve ever had in one year. I hope we can duplicate or surpass that this year.”
The annual event is a fundraiser for two scholarships that go to graduating Taylor High School athletes in the class of 2023. A donation is also made to a local nonprofit.
This year, the Shining Stars, a local nonprofit for adults with special needs, will return to operate the concession stand, as well as take to the court once more for a championship series of games.
In addition to championship rings, the MVP trophies have a signature touch to them this year.
The trophies are spray paint cans minus the cap of the can and are painted gold to give them more of that trophy appearance.
“I started to experiment with putting images on empty spray paint cans,” said trophy designer and local Taylor artist Dennis Levitin. “Jason said, ‘Hey, that could be kind of fun. Let’s see about doing that for the 3-on- 3 since the urban street element and 3-on-3 is kind of a street thing.’”
The images on the trophies are basketball player silhouettes, but not just any generic silhouette. Some are of Taylor NBA hall of famer KC Jones.
“The images I used I came up with that it would be a good idea to use some of the silhouettes of KC Jones,” said Levitin. “Jones has that connection to basketball and to Taylor. It’s just a cool and unique way to display the art and incorporate the Taylor native.”
Participating age groups are 11-14, 15-17 and 18 and older. There are divisions for both men and women.
Anyone who has played varsity-level basketball will play in the 18-and-older division.
Winners receive championship rings in addition to other prizes. There also will be a 3-point contest, freethrow contest, a game of knockout and a raffle.
For more information, contact Jason Hennington at 512-352- 8535 or 512-269-9735 or email [email protected].
