It’s that time of the year again. Finals are fast approaching, as is graduation for the seniors, but most important of all is the annual 3v3 tournament on field day. Nothing beats the intense competition of quickly assembled teams in a single-elimination bracket. Many people view being valedictorian as the crowning achievement for a senior, but that pales in comparison to ending your high school career as a 3v3 champ. On the flip side, an early round exit will haunt those graduating forever.

There is a method to this madness. Each team sends out three players at a time, hence the 3v3 title, but teams are allowed to have a fourth player to sub in and out. Also, teams are only allowed to have one varsity basketball player on their 4-man roster. This evens out the playing field by preventing stacked teams. It’s a 10-minute, half-court game counting by 1’s and 2’s.

Now it is time to delve into each team, organized into three tiers based on how they match up in four categories: Shooting, Height, Team Name, and Kelvin. Shooting is necessary because if you can’t put the ball in the basket, you can’t win. Height matters because in basketball size matters a lot. A super cool team name will obviously help the team play better. Finally, Kelvin is a wizard with the ball and if you have him on your team you basically have the cheat codes.

The Cinderella Stories

The Gingersnaps (Taylor Schueler, Dominique Washington, Brittany Mauritzen, and Andrew Shepley)

Shooting: 2/5

Having two varsity players should be an advantage here, but Brittany spent much of the season battling injuries which could affect her shooting.

Size: 4/5

The over/under for shots that Dominique is going to violently spike is 17.5.

Name: 5/5

Gingersnaps is a horrible name if your team does not have a ginger. Luckily for them, Andrew Shepley is very, very ginger, thus making it a spectacular name.

Kelvin: No

Team Kyle Brown (Kyle Brown, Derrick Soroka, Ian McDowell, and Josh Yuen)

Shooting: 2/5

Ya know, back in his hay day Kyle won the sixth grade 3-pt shooting contest. That was many a year ago, but maybe he can turn back the clock and hit some shots.

Size: 4/5

Overall the team is not very tall, but Ian goes 150% at all times and is so freakishly athletic that he compensates for his lack of elite height.

Name: 5/5 …. jk 0/5

It’s so boring.

Kelvin: No

Kappa Kappa Delta Chi (Maddie Spagnola, Megan Kremer, Ava Matsas, and Peter Virgilio)

Shooting: 3/5

Maddie was the driving force of a team that went to State and she’ll look to make another deep tournament run, this time with much higher stakes.

Size: 2/5

Peter packs some much needed muscle but there isn’t much height on the team outside of kinda, sorta Ava.

Name: 3/5

A pretty solid name. It might not give them the boost they need, but it shouldn’t hurt them, either.

Kelvin: No

Dishing Out L’s (Katie Castoro, Charlie Canning, Matthew Mendoza, and Mrs. Schmidt)

Shooting: 3/5

Anybody that watched the girls at State knows that Katie is a bucket-getter supreme.

Size: 1/5

Overall not very tall or strong. Charlie adds height but nobody on the team has enough strength to match up against their first round opponents of Sam Reedy and Dominic Hartke.

Name: 5/5

Fantastic name. Katie and Matthew are in foods class so the combination of culinary vocabulary and intimidation tactics is beyond successful.

Kelvin: No

The Dark Horses

Muscle Milk (Johnny Walschot, Will Gaston, Matt Schimbke, and Max Marcordes)

Shooting: 4/5

Will was a key guard for the Green Wave this season and he will use that leadership, paired with a solid shot and good defense, to try and spur a deep tournament run.

Size: 3/5

Matt is a big fella, but the rest of the team isn’t overly big.

Name: 4/5

Nothing says intimidation like muscle, and nothing says smart dietary habits like milk. Put the two together and you get a really gross protein drink, but a really good team name.

Kelvin: No

McChicken (Eric Santiago, Brett Kruska, Saveon Smith, and Daniel Falco)

Shooting: 2/5

The McChicken’s won’t do most of their damage on the perimeter.

Size: 5/5

This squad is basically the Weight Room All Stars.

Name: 2/5

McChickens are good, but c’mon they’re not that good.

Kelvin: No

The Mathletes (Coach A, Carson Scarnegie, Zach Olenek, and Peter Cholewa)

Shooting: 4/5

I’m pretty sure Coach A and Zach Olenek are just good at every single athletic activity that exists, not excluding shooting a basketball.

Size: 2/5

Undersized but they make up for it with quickness and hops.

Name: 3/5

A good name, but they spelled it wrong on the signup sheet so I feel obligated to mark them off. Precision is key.

Kelvin: No

The Rednecks (Eric Stepanovic, Dominic Hartke, Sam Reedy, and Tommy Melidones)

Shooting: 3/5

Eric and Tommy should be able to hold down the perimeter and stretch the floor enough for Dom and Sam to bang down low

Size: 5/5

Speaking of Dom and Sam, those two supply both height and strength. If Sam is half as terrifying on the court as he is on the football field then the other teams in the tournament should be very nervous.

Name: 3/5

Rednecks isn’t a bad name, but they don’t exactly seem very redneck-y

Kelvin: No

Theater Boy and the Athletes (Mr. Jones/Ms. Beckett, Mr. Brieger, Mrs. Brown, and Mrs. Richmond)

Shooting: 3/5

This team has everything. Speed, size, experience, and I would guess they’re probably decent at shooting.

Size: 4/5

Mr. Brieger is a large presence in the middle. He’ll battle Coach Aydt, and maybe Trevor or Big Jimmy as the most imposing big man in the tournament.

Name: 5/5

A great name. It should really give them an edge on the competition.

Kelvin: No

The Powerhouses

The Meteoraydts (Sebastian Mozdzen, Izzy Nottolini, Isaac Nordan, Coach Aydt)

Shooting: 3/5

Izzy gets buckets. Isaac, Sebastian, and Coach Aydt don’t have much range but Izzy more than makes up for it.

Size: 4/5

Coach Aydt is a beast down low and pairing him with Isaac will create quite the formidable frontline.

Name: 5/5

Meteoraydts is both punny and team-related.

Kelvin: No

Toon Squad (AJ Franklin, David Madden, Tyler Holte, Ben Harrington)

Shooting: 5/5

AJ’s shot is silky smooth. This team his a lot of basketball experience, although not for St. Edward, that should pay dividends on the court.

Size: 4/5

This team isn’t very tall (outside of AJ) but they are one of the strongest teams in the field.

Name: 3/5

Don’t get me wrong, Space Jam is an absolute classic, but that doesn’t make Toon Squad any less unoriginal.

Kelvin: No

The Inmates (Mayar Azar, Ethan Enright, Steven Poremba, Jimmy Schoff)

Shooting: 5/5

Steven can absolutely drain it from deep. Ethan has struggled with injuries throughout his career, but his immense talent still remains.

Size: 5/5

Mayar Azar is a post move expert, and Big Jimmy is, as his name implies, big. With the rims potentially not being perfectly regulation height, Jimmy should be able to dunk with ease.

Name: 4/5

Prison ball is unquestionably scary. This should boost their toughness and strength.

Kelvin: No

A-Migos (Jimmy Harkins, Trevor Loewen, Mrs. Bravo, Kelvin Cortez-Harvey)

Shooting: 5/5

Mrs. Bravo can make it rain and it’s debatable whether Kelvin is going to get more buckets or break more ankles. Either way this team has more than enough shooting.

Size: 5/5

Jimmy and Trevor are bigger than stronger than pretty much all of the competition.

Name: 5/5

The combination of Spanish and a pop culture icon is pure genius.

Kelvin: YES

Overall I think the A-Migos are the favorite to win. They are so well rounded. Kelvin and Mrs. Bravo on the perimeter is dangerous as it is. Pair them with the twin towers of Jimmy Harkins and Trevor and you have a serious problem. With that said, they are by no means a lock to win. They’re first round matchup is a tough one against AJ and the Toon Squad. This uncertainty is the best part of the 3v3 Tournament. Over 30 teams have entered, and while only 1 team will win, all 30 teams have a legitimate shot.