For those who can’t get enough of high school basketball, one of the summer’s best events tips off this week as Mountain Pointe and Desert Vista compete in the Mesa Summer Prime Time tournament.
Tournament director Marc Beasley seeded the eight-team field and the bracket is filled out accordingly.
The action starts Friday at Red Mountain High with Mountain Pointe playing Mesa at 7 p.m. in the main gym and Desert Vista playing Corona del Sol at 8 p.m. on Friday.
The other matchups are Pinnacle vs. Basha and Brophy vs. Mesa Mountain View.
The tournament continues on Saturday with games starting at 10 a.m. and the finals at 1 p.m.
It’s a good chance for teams that have new coaches - like Mountain Pointe – to get a feel for what direction the program is going in.
The Pride have five athletes who play football and basketball so who will be available is unsure, but Mountain Pointe coach Aaron Windler and football coach Norris Vaughan have worked well with each other.
Tre Campbell, who has had a great summer, has a knee issue that will keep him out.
Regardless of who plays or not, it is a good situation for Windler as he still gets a feel for his new players and tries to make up for lost time.
Desert Vista is hoping to build off last year’s state semifinal appearance but have dealt with some roster shakeup with subtractions and additions.
The Thunder take on the team - Corona - that knocked them out the postseason in the first game. It might amp up the intensity for the Thunder players but the rosters are much different than the ones that took the floor in February.
Coach Dave Williams has high expectations no matter who steps on the floor so it will be a good test for the players remaining.
The games only last about an hour so get there in plenty of time and take in all of the action.
Contact writer: (480) 898-7915 or Jskoda@ahwatukee.com. Follow him on Twitter @JSkodaAFN.
