The 3v3 March Madness tournament at Cascade High School has become an annual tradition of 3v3 basketball where students can participate during Flex by signing up in the office a week before the tournament. Two teams of three players compete against each other for eight minutes. The games start off with a check, which is when the offensive player passes to the defensive player, which initiates the start of the game. The players only play on a half court and the same rules apply although calls are made with much less frequency, and the vibe is more “street ball” than “formal basketball game”. Shots from the inner circle are two points and shots from the outside are worth three points.
Like any basketball game, referees are needed to keep track of scores and fouls. At Cascade, Leadership students sign up to ref and monitor games to ensure fairness and safety. “My job is to make sure that it's a fair game, make sure that I'll actually call fouls and give free throws,” explained Ben Jerome (12). “My job [is] to also make sure that everybody has fun, ‘cause when the game’s fair you’re having fun and I keep track of scores as well.”
The tournament lasted two days: March 20 and March 21. There were a total of ten teams that participated.
As the games got more intense with every victory, teams advanced further in the tournament bracket or faced elimination.
Max Speigel (11), Jackson Groby (12), and Johnas Johnson (12) were last year's winning team and were hopeful they could defend their title this year. “We received a photo in the yearbook for winning, we did not prepare, and it felt so great winning. It wasn't difficult moving up the bracket until the final round. That was the only hard team, we were a little scared to lose but it was okay because we didn't,” said Speigel.
On ay two of the tournament, there were only four teams remaining. After one round, the final two teams battled it out for the title of 2025 3v3 champions: “For all the Dogs,” which was Speigel, Groby and Johnson and team “CCD” consisting of Ezra Week (11), Julian Feeney (10), and Will Biebesheimer (12).
As these two teams went head-to-head for the championship, the energy in the crowd intensified. Both teams started the game with consistent blocks and shots but there could only be one winner. As the game progressed both teams were playing faster and faster trying to one up each other and score the most possible points. As the most intense eight minutes passed, the game ended in a tie. The teams were given a few extra minutes to play and the ball flew across the court from player to player and shots got missed or blocked. Julian Feeney finally took his shot at the three-point line and made the winning basket for his team. The crowd went wild, and his teammates jumped in excitement and celebrated together.
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