The first session of the Greenline Summer Jamboree varsity basketball tournament opened up this past weekend in Martinez.
The 24-team tournament began on Friday with games played at Alhambra High School in Martinez as well as Martinez Junior High.
The event tipped off on Friday with the Reno Blazers, Folsom High School, Alhambra High School, Cardinal Newman High School of Santa Rosa, Richmond High School and Hercules High School opening games at the two respective gyms.
Hosted by De La Salle High School and their coach Frank Allacco, the event gives all 24 teams seven games to play during the weekend, two played on Friday, three on Saturday and two on the closing Sunday.
The second day of the event saw rematches from the 2011-12 season as well as matchups featuring many of the top high school teams in the Bay Area.
Salesian High School of Richmond faced the host team, De La Salle, on Saturday with De La Salle winning handily after pulling away in the second half, though both teams were missing multiple members of their teams.
The defending California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) division four state champion Salesian Pride were without their top two players and returning seniors Jabari Bird and Mario Dunn.
Bird is the 11th best player in the country and fourth best shooting guard nationwide, according to ESPN, and currently holds offers from some of the top programs on the West Coast such as Arizona and Washington, who are the last two to win the Pac-10 and Pac-12 championships.
De La Salle, who is coming off of a 2011-12 season where they finished 28-3, played the game without their top returner Elliot Pitts, who is ranked 73rd in ESPN’s top 100 and has not committed to any university, though he has received offers from Boston College and the University of California Berkeley.
The level of competition in the tournament is what some coaches feel will help prepare their teams going forward, as multiple teams in this tournament have hoisted state championships or section titles in the past.
“The competition is up,” assistant coach Brendan O’Connor from Lincoln High School of San Francisco said. “Great to see other teams, all teams in the Bay Area that you possibly will face in preseason tournaments.”
“Our competition in our league isn’t as stringent as the competition here,” O’Connor added.
Las Lomas of Walnut Creek Head Coach Sol Henik’s squad lost to O’Connor and his Lincoln team on Saturday in their first game of the day, but overall he was pleased with the way his team played.
“We’ve played extremely hard,” Henik said when asked about his team’s play in the tournament. “I love what I’m seeing as far as the effort, they’re making some great adjustments.”
Saturday also saw Mt. Eden of Hayward defeat Piedmont Hills, Archbishop Mitty of San Jose beat Piedmont Hills, Lincoln High School faced Las Lomas and was able to pull off the victory and Alcalanes of Lafayette defeated Clayton Valley of Concord.
Although Clayton Valley lost, head coach Troy Sullivan feels very optimistic about his program, though his team is returning zero starters from last season and will feature seven sophomores.
“Seems like every game we get a little bit better in a different area,” Sullivan said. “We’re concerned about developing guys so that when November comes around they’re ready to go.”
Like many summer tournaments no champion will be crowned, yet the plight of playing seven games in three days has coaches such as Henik excited about the progress of his team.
“We’re not winning every game but the effort is there,” Henik explained. “I’m extremely happy with those objectives being met.”
