Players honor fallen hero, raise money for scholarship at John 3:16 tourney

In a tournament put on to honor the life of Sgt. Jonathon Hunter, it may have only seemed appropriate that the J-Hunt Soldiers captured the event’s top division.

Hunter’s brother Marcus teamed with Preston Case, Billy Chandler and Matt Van Scyoc to win the high school/men’s open division at Saturday’s John 3:16 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament at Columbus East High School.

“It was really cool to see a lot of his friends,” said Marcus Hunter, a 1996 East graduate. “That last game was against a lot of his friends, so it was just cool to get out here and see those guys. I played here as a high school kid, as well, so it brought back a lot of memories.”

Jonathon Hunter, a 2011 East graduate, was killed in a suicide attack Aug. 2, 2017, while serving with the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan. The 23-year-old was just 32 days into his deployment.

Marcus and Jonathon’s father Mark started the John 3:16 tournament in 2019, but it was canceled the next year because of the COVID pandemic. After dealing with logistical issues the next couple of years, they brought it back this year.

Saturday’s event featured 28 teams and about 100 players.

“We had three or four teams that didn’t show up, so we had to adjust the brackets,” Mark Hunter said. “But we had no issues, other than getting the brackets done. It went fairly well after we got it started.”

Mason Reeves, who will be a senior at East, won the 3-point contest with 12 made 3-pointers. Former Olympian standout Alicia Hopkins, a classmate of Jonathon Hunter, made eight.

After reviving the John 3:16 tournament this year, the Hunters are planning on it becoming an annual event. This year’s tournament has raised an estimated $6,000—to-$7,000 for a scholarship fund through the Heritage Foundation.

“People were donating money today,” Mark Hunter said. “We had boxes, and the donations were appreciated.”