Summer hoops at Skyline

“It’s a fun time of year,” said Skyline head basketball coach Justin Piergrossi, who also produces the tournament. “We’re kind of the end of summer for most high school teams. … Most teams have been going since the first week of June. It’s a nice way to end the summer.”

The tournament began last weekend with 22 teams playing in pool play. The top two teams from each pool, plus wild cards, for 16 teams in all, advanced to this weekend’s final 16. Sacred Heart Prep and Mills will kick off the first game at 9 a.m. Saturday. Two-time defending champion Serra, which has won the tournament 11 times since 2001, will face Washington-SF in the night cap at 6 p.m.

The rest of Saturday’s matchups include: Hillsdale-Lincoln-SF, 10 a.m.; Half Moon Bay-Irvington-Fremont, 11 a.m.; Riordan-Menlo School, noon; Tamalpais-Mill Valley-Sequoia, 3 p.m.; King’s Academy-Leigh, 4 p.m., and Terra Nova-Burlingame, 5 p.m.

Sunday’s games include quarter and semifinals in both the winner’s and loser’s bracket beginning at 10 a.m. The championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, following the third-place game at 4 p.m.

While the tournament is a chance for high school teams to get some playing time with their high school teammates, it’s also used as an evaluation period. No one needs to check the status of his team more than Burlingame head coach Jeff Dowd, who returns to the Panthers sideline this season after a six-year hiatus.

“For me, it’s very important. It’s the end of the summer and you can evaluate,” Dowd said. “Kind of see what we have (in our players). See what the best system is, what kind of offense and defense we should run. … There are certain foundations you have to have, but [the offense and defense is] always based on personnel.”

Dowd, who stepped down as Burlingame coach following the 2011-12 season, formed Peninsula Basketball Club, for players in grades 2 through 8, five years ago. So while he has stayed involved in teaching basketball, it certainly hasn’t been at the high school level.

“[The high school game] is different than when I coached earlier,” Dowd said.

The one drawback to the tournament is that it does not necessarily feature a school’s entire varsity team. Because of summertime commitments to family, work and club basketball, no coach is ever quite certain which players will be available.

This week and next are in flux as players from many schools will be traveling to Las Vegas for a number of showcase tournaments for club teams.

“I’m only losing one guy,” Dowd said.

But there are other teams who will be gutted by club commitments. The silver lining is, however, getting some of the younger players some quality playing time.

“What we’ve learned over the years is, just participating — whether it’s varsity players or JV players — whoever plays is getting prepared,” Piergrossi said. “Whoever takes the floor, coaches are doing the best they can with the players on the floor.”

Piergrossi always tries to get teams from the greater Bay Area to play in the tournament, just to give the local teams different faces and players at which to look. But finding and convincing teams to play is getting harder and harder.

“We like to have a couple outside (of the Peninsula) teams,” Piergrossi said. “But it gets more and more difficult every year as coaches see how much time players are playing with their club teams, it’s harder and harder to field a team to represent a high school.”

Like most other sports, the club circuit is taking players further and further away from their high school teams and it affects tournaments like Skyline as the best players for a high school team are usually away at tournaments with their club teams at this time of the year.

“The number of club teams in increasing exponentially. The number of tournaments is increasing. The size of tournament is increasing,” Piergrossi said. “I do think the increase of club teams have pulled away kids from high school programs more than ever before. High school coaches are really walking that fine line of having them play together (as a high school team) as well as giving them the freedom to play with their club teams.”

There was a time when this tournament hosted “club” teams — squads comprised of a high school’s players, but were not officially sanctioned by the Central Coast Section. CCS has since changed its rule about summertime participation under the umbrella of the school and teams can freely represent their schools.

“I think the change they made at the high school level to allow high schools to participate over the summer is similar to what they’re doing in college,” Piergrossi said. “[Governing bodies] want players around coaches more, not less. I think everybody understands it is important to be around [their high school] program, to be held accountable.”