3 vs. 3 Basketball: "Sparks" Got Game

by Dayton Flannery

Basketball is a simple sport. You take the ball and put it in the hoop. And if you do that enough, you win. To have a good basketball team you need height, good ball handlers, good passers, and of course, good shooters. On February 25 “Team Sparks” proved that they had all of these prerequisites and more.

On Wednesday, February 25, a 3 vs. 3 basketball tournament was hosted by the Varsity baseball team. Students from all grades, and even coaches, assembled teams that they hoped could pull it together and win it all. Not only would the winning team have bragging rights but they also would have the chance to compete against “The Harlem Wizards.”

In total, 12 teams entered the tournament. Divided up into three different leagues, the teams would play every team within their league and the two teams with the best records would advance to the next round.

From the beginning, one team in particular stood out from the rest. On that fateful Wednesday evening “Team Sparks,” featuring seniors Trent Emanuel, Brian Rogers, and Wyatt Sparks proved to be the greatest three-man squad in the Bronxville High School. Every team fell to this unstoppable force.

In the finals “Team Sparks” was matched up against “Deep Impact” which included juniors Paxton Cane, Derrick Richter, and Matt Troja. This team appeared to be the best team in the tournament based on their loud cries of victory during their undefeated run to the championship match. But their war cries were not loud enough.

With all of the competition’s participants watching on the sidelines, “Sparks” and “Deep Impact” faced off in a savage duel. Both teams went back and forth, shooting and scoring, shooting and scoring. However, Deep Impact’s shooting skills and quick passes couldn’t quite match up to the astonishing speed and finesse of “Team Sparks.” In the end Sparks and his valiant crew emerged victorious.

“I thought we had a pretty good chance to win it,” says Rogers. “We’re good friends so team chemistry is a given.” Team chemistry could have been the thing that brought them there. Everyone passed well and made the shots that counted. Without some of Wyatt Sparks’ beautiful around the back passes maybe Trent and Brian wouldn’t have had as many opportunities to score.

Though the competition was pretty serious, Team Sparks saw the tournament as an opportunity to have a good time. “Wyatt’s job was to distract the defense,” Brian joked.

Sparks had this to say about their strategy, “I think the less I have the ball the better we’ll do.”

Rogers added that besides being friends, everyone was on the team for a reason. “Trent is good at rebounding and scoring and I would handle the ball and score while Wyatt would run around playing defense and being an outlet in case we were in trouble.”

When asked how the squad would prepare for their game against the Harlem Wizards, Wyatt commented, “We practiced some alley-oops before where Brian would toss the ball and I would get on Trent’s shoulders, but we didn’t really have a good opportunity to use it. Maybe we’ll unleash some of our tricks on the Wizards. Ya’ know, show ‘em who’s boss,”