By Ben Tinsley
bent@tjpnews.com
Follow @bentinsley
DALLAS — More than 200 people participated in the 12th annual Points for Peace 3-on-3 basketball tournament, which lasted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Yavneh Academy’s Students Against Terrorism (SAT) sponsored the event.
“It was basically play, play, play,” explained Risa Mond, SAT co-president and a Yavneh senior directing the event.
There was a raffle held during the event, with money going to the beneficiary, Mond said.
Each team was required to raise a minimum of $200 to participate.
Although the exact number wasn’t known at press time, officials said more than $40,000 was raised and will be donated to “One Family Together,” an Israel-based program with Big Brother and Big Sister programs for young children working their way through experiences with terror.
Yavneh Academy senior Steve Levine, co-president of SAT, said the organization really came together to give to the cause.
“(The tournament) went smoothly and we are really lucky and grateful for that,” Levine said.
The origins of the group trace back to March 2002, when six Yavneh students attended a Yeshiva University–sponsored leadership conference in Connecticut.
The event focused on active leadership and various ways to help the situation in Israel, and the students returned to Dallas with much motivation and insight to share with other students.
The result? The formation of Students Against Terrorism — and, ultimately, events such as Points For Peace.
Levine said participating in SAT has given him satisfaction and the courage to “come out of his shell” to discuss important issues with people.
“It is all fun, all competitive and for a good cause,” Levine said. “We are in it together. People love Points for Peace. They mark it on their calendars. … Our first year we had five teams and now we have 55. With the donations and funds we are raising, we are growing and growing.”
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3-on-3 winners
1st and 2nd graders, boys and girls: Sharks
Liam Oster, Aiden Haviv, Coby Feinstein, Brendan Eber
3rd and 4th grade boys: The Warriors
Sam Rael, Joseph Schwartz, Ilan Modrykamien, Jacob Blank
3rd and 4th grade girls: Fury
Eden Behr, Alyssa Feldman, Natalie Emmett
5th and 6th grade girls: Sweet Shots
Hallie Sternblitz, Mia Ness, Claudia Hurst, Sydney London
5th and 6th grade boys: Ballers
Noah Ohayon, Yosef Drizin, Hillel Baynash, Aaron Bard
7th and 8th grade boys: Even
Yoav Even, Alex Witheiler, Grant Bulmash, Hayden Jacobs
7th and 8th grade girls: JLSS
Liel Guttman, Jessie Lampert, Sophia Weinstein, Sophia Gonzalez
Winner High School Girls: Ballin Nuts
Emily Weisfeld, Mikaela Read, Tess Salinaro, Mary Margaret Roberts
High School Boys: Butter
Jonathan Ochstein, Seth Applebaum, David Steinbrecher, Ty Bennett
Adult: Decker
Dima Chernikov, Thomas Dodson, David Viger, Cameron Krantz
