Thanksgiving Throwdown is dribbling its way to Susquehannock once again.

   For the third year in a row, student council will be raising money for the American Heart Association by hosting a 3-on-3 co-ed basketball tournament in the main gym on Friday, November 13 after school. The teams will consist of four players, and each team must pay a $40 entry fee.

   Junior student council member Adam Hedgeland is on the Throwdown committee and is excited to see what this year’s tournament will bring. This will be his third year participating in the tournament with his team, “Team Gold Lamp.”

  “I think this year will be better than years before. We’ve had pretty good turnouts in the past, but this year we’ve already started to get more and more applications,” Hedgeland said.

  There will be three divisions within the tournament; 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12. In past years there have usually been five teams per division, but the committee believes that there will be more this year with the amount of applications that have already been filled out.

  Senior committee member Eli Holloway has also participated in the tournament in past years.

  “We all get pretty competitive with each other. Last year [senior] Nic Prego threw a clipboard against his knee and threw it against a wall,” Holloway said.

  Tom Laure has been the advisor for the tournament since it began. From the start, he knew that having a basketball tournament would get students involved to raise money for the American Heart Association.

  “We [the committee] thought that instead of having a dodgeball tournament or a kickball tournament, that [a basketball tournament] would bring excitement for people to participate,” Laure said.

  At the end of the tournament, there will be one team from each division who will be champions. “The Gold Lamps” have won their division for the past two years, and Hedgeland, one of the team’s players, is ready to win it all again.

  “[I’m most excited about] going for the 3-Peat. It’ll be awesome if we’re champions again,” Hedgeland said.

  Laure is just excited to see what the turnout will be.

  “[I think] just seeing the kids in the gym and everyone being excited about competing and seeing who the best 3-on-3 team is,” Laure said.

  The 2014 Thanksgiving Throwdown raised $490 for the American Heart Association last year.