AMERICAN FORK — Eight of Utah's top prep basketball teams will participate this week in the inaugural Utah Elite 8 tournament at American Fork High School. Competition begins Thursday and will conclude Saturday.
The team is headlined by top teams Brighton, Bingham, Davis and host American Fork paired with other top programs: Mountain Crest, Corner Canyon, Sky View and Layton.
"We feel we have eight teams that are all capable of winning the tournament. It's truly wide open," said tournament director Rob Geersten. "It's a true tournament involving all in-state teams, so we think this is a good opportunity to maybe gauge how some of the top teams compete."
Other highlights of the tournament are a number of players with a lot of college interest such as Davis' Jesse Wade (Gonzaga commit), Brighton's Brock Miller (Utah State commit), American Fork's Brendan Bailey (Arizona State commit), Layton's Jariesse Blackmon (UC Santa Barbara commit) and Bingham's Yoeli Childs.
"We really wanted to focus on getting some of the state's best players and we feel we've done that," Geersten said. "We also like that we have two teams from Cache County, two from Davis County along with three teams from Salt Lake County and then American Fork. It's great that we'll be well-represented geographically."
Tournament schedule
Thursday, Dec. 11, 3:15 p.m.: Corner Canyon vs. Bingham; 4:55 p.m.: Davis vs. Mountain Crest; 6:35 p.m.: American Fork vs. Sky View; 8:15 p.m.: Brighton vs. Layton
Semifinal games: Winner of CC/Bingham vs. winner of Davis/MC; winner of AF/Sky View vs. winner of Brighton/Layton
Tournament information
— Games will be played Dec. 11-13 at American Fork High School. All varsity games will be streamed live by Sportz Filmz on sfan.tv. Cost is $6 adults, $3 senior citizens and $1 for students with ID. Family passes are available for $50. The tourney is a true tourney format, meaning there will be a champion crowned at the end. Tourney favorites going in are Bingham (2-0), American Fork (3-0) and Brighton (2-0).
Email: bgurney@desnews.com
Twitter: @BrandonCGurney