The 10th annual Taylor Press 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament was held on July 8–9 at Taylor High School with 19 teams in the 18-and-older division, six squads in the 11–14 division and the Shining Stars special needs group playing on Sunday at the end of the action.
A new champion was crowned in the 18-and-older division as Snipe Squad Reloaded knocked off the defending champion Austin Knightz in an extremely competitive semifinal matchup on Sunday and cruised in the championship game against the Bandits.
“It’s always competitive, especially on day two of the tournament,” Taylor Press area editor and tournament creator Jason Hennington said. “I enjoy meeting these players and talking to them before and after games, but I also enjoy watching them compete. It’s great networking with people and then watching them go at it on the court.”
Snipe Squad Reloaded was led by Jon Warren, B.J. Tealer, Cordez Maddox and Gregory Whitaker with Warren taking home the tournament Most Valuable Player award for his white-hot shooting from three-point range.
In a game that came down to the wire in the 11–14 division final, the Lightning Bombers had to come from behind and won in the final seconds against another very talented Str8 Buckets team to become the new champions. The Lightning Bombers were led by Markell Fitzgerald, Paulo Torres, Aiden James and Davian Tellez with Fitzgerald winning MVP for his clutch baskets down the stretch of the championship game. Hennington was sure to thank Stacey Kuhn for helping get the younger division teams together and was very pleased with their showing.
“I was very impressed with the level of competition and sportsmanship this year,” Hennington said. “All six teams in the division played hard every second they were on the floor and shook hands after the buzzer. Today, there are not many kids that age who leave all their emotions on the floor.”
The Shining Stars, a local nonprofit for adults with special needs, played a game too and in the final minute, the entire crowd came onto the floor to clap for them in a beautiful scene of support and sportsmanship from the Taylor community. Throughout the weekend, the Shining Stars also helped run the concession stand outside of the high school gymnasium. Hennington loved what he saw from the Shining Stars.
“This is my favorite part of the tournament,” Hennington said. “Seeing them play and have fun is a great feeling. When fans come down and surround the court and clap for them in the last minute of the game, all of the attention is on them. It’s heartwarming.”
On Saturday during pool play of the tournament, there were various competitions held like the three-point contest, freethrow contest and a large game of knockout.
After a successful two-day tournament, it was revealed that the tournament raised $5,120 which will go towards scholarships and donations to Impact Counseling for mentoring programs at Taylor Independent School District.
“Overall, I think the tournament was great. We have come a long way since year one, and it shows,” Hennington said. “There’s more participation, more prizes, more fans and at least for me, more fun and excitement. I’ve said before, the tournament is about community, basketball is just the avenue. As long as that never changes, the tournament will continue to get better every year.”
