Players drive for Theinert Scholarship Fund
Spectators and competitors packed the school gymnasium last Saturday afternoon for the first-ever Lt. Joe Theinert 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, a fundraiser for the Joey Theinert Scholarship Fund.
At the start of the event, tournament organizer Ian Kanarvogel grabbed the microphone, and with his words reverberating off the gym walls, he explained to the packed bleachers and eager competitors his hopes for the afternoon: “I kind of feel that it’s been a lot of sadness when we think about Joey, and very somber, so I really want this event to be something to celebrate, for people to think positive and for everyone to have a really great time.”
Though raising money and having fun were the ultimate goals, it was clear from the start that it would be a day of fierce competition. There were over 100 players on the 21 registered teams packed onto the court for a warm-up, and many didn’t shy away from some pregame trash-talking. Quite a few players who graced the Indians’ basketball court during their high school careers returned to try to reignite their former glory, and plenty of newcomers to the Island gymnasium laced up their shoes in hopes of staking their claim to the day’s hoop honors.
Some players, like those on teams “Terror Squad” and the “Wrenches,” showed up with homemade jerseys with their team name, a nickname and player number emblazoned on their matching T-shirts in marker.
The matches were fast-paced, with a continuously running 8-minute clock and no time-outs. Teams had three players on the court at once but could have an additional three on the bench for substitutions, which were allowed every two minutes. Each team had to have at least one female, one high school player and one person not in high school. The first team to score 15 points, or ahead after 8 minutes was the winner of each game.
The well-over 100 spectators had plenty of action to keep them entertained. There were so many entrants that organizers held three games at once throughout the day. One game was held on the southern half of the court and the other two games had players shooting on the northeast- and northwest-end baskets.
A team of volunteers helped everything run smoothly, from the girls working the game clock to the raffle table to the team of ladies in the kitchen cooking up hot dogs and chili and running the concession stand. A couple of volunteers helped encourage a sports stadium atmosphere as they wandered back and forth past the bleachers shouting, “Hot dogs, here! Get your hot dogs!” like they do in the big leagues.
Even with the short games, there were so many teams it took over four hours to whittle it down to just two. The final match was between the Navy team and the purple. The purple team dominated the match from the start. Summer resident Lee Knoeppel and current Indians basketball player Chris Napolitano put up four baskets each for the purple team. Current Indians basketball player Andrew BeltCappellino and one of last year’s basketball stars Dustin Mulcahy sunk the Navy team’s only two baskets. The score was 8-2 at the final buzzer, and the two squads congratulated each other on a strong performance.
The undefeated purple team, with Knoeppel, Napolitano, Jodi Brewer and Andrew and Will Smiley accepted their “Theinert 3-on-3” T-shirt prizes with wide smiles and hoisted their first-place trophy over their heads. The second-place team had just three players: Mulcahy, BeltCappellino and Grace Williamson. Fatigue may have had something to do with their eventual downfall: “It went alright, but we had no subs so we were tired,” Mulcahy commented after the game. “It’s all good though, no excuses, play like a champ.”
The third-place trophy went to the Wrenches: James Napolitano, John Goodleaf, Jimbo Theinert, Katie Goodleaf, Jack Reardon and Jay Card.
Players travelled from all over to participate, and not just from nearby towns like Southold, Greenport and Sag Harbor — people showed up from Nassau County, Albany and even Rhode Island.
The tournament was organized through the Youth Center with Youth Center Director Kanarvogel acting as the primary force behind the event, though Carla Cadzin, another Shelter Island graduate, was brought in early on to assist him. “It was more of a success than I think either of us could have imagined,” she said after the tournament.
Kanarvogel said after the games, “The tournament went really well, it was an overall success. Everyone had a good time, it went really smoothly, and I can’t wait for next year.” He and Cadzin were grateful for the raffle prize donations from the Chequit, Sweet Tomato’s, the Pharmacy, Bella Vita, South Ferry and GeoJo Video.
Kanarvogel said he decided to start the tournament to raise money and awareness for the Theinert Scholarship Fund, and in total the event raised over $2,500.
Joey’s mother, Chrys Kestler, expressed gratitude and amazement at the young organizers’ and volunteers’ hard work and commented after the tournament, “Shelter Island does a great job raising their kids.”
It was an appropriate time to hold the event, since basketball season is just getting underway and a lot of people were home for Thanksgiving break, Kanarvogel said.
But the choice of sport was particularly meaningful: “Joey loved basketball, I played basketball with him ever since we were in CYO. It’s something I think he’d be happy to have his name attached to.”
