The annual (6th) Prime Time Boys Basketball Tournament lands at Sunnyslope High this weekend -- Friday June 17 and Saturday June 18.

The tournament features eight teams with a mix of eastside and westwide schools from three of the six conferences. Schools participating are Basha, Mountain Ridge, Corona del Sol, Apollo, Sunnyslope, Perry, Chandler and Scottsdale Christian. 

Play begins Friday with a set of non-bracket games. At 5 p.m. it's Basha-Perry and Corona del Sol-Scottsdale Christian followed at 6 p.m. by Mountain Ridge-Sunnyslope and Apollo-Chandler.

Seeded bracket play commences Friday at 7 with #8 SCA vs. #1 Basha and #5 Sunnyslope vs. #4 Apollo. The final games for Friday are at 8 with #3 Corona del Sol taking on #6 Perry and #7 Chandler facing #2 Mountain Ridge. Bracket play continues Saturday with loser's bracket games at 10 a.m. and winner's bracket games at 11. Consolation games follow at noon. The championship and third-place games at 1 p.m.

Here's a glance at the teams participating:

#1 Basha: The Bears were Division I semifinalists last season under coach Mike Grothaus. They were one of the deeper teams in any division and return several top players despite losing about as many to graduation. Leading returnee is forward Gabe McGlothan and guards Brennen Davis and Terrell Brown. Brown also plays football and is currently out of action with a separated shoulder. Davis also plays baseball. Coleson Struhs, Bryan Baptiste, Austin Picarello and Nico Daal also garnered meaningful time last season.

#2 Mountain Ridge: The Mountain Lions were among the top teams in D-I last season, but exited state in the their first game (round of 16) with a tough loss to St. Mary's. Coach Eli Lopez has four players returning with substantial minutes led by Jared Rodriguez, Sailou Gueye and Chris Hermes. Green is playing with Hillcrest and Hermes is injured so others will get extended looks this weekend. 

#3 Corona del Sol: The Aztecs saw their four-year run as state champs end with a quarterfinal loss to Sunnyslope. They sorely missed guard Saben Lee that night, who was out due to illness. Lee is back and along with fellow senior Alex Barcello will give Corona two of the state's top players. Lee will compete in the tournament, but Barcello will be absent at another event. Coach Neil MacDonald has a couple other returnees in tow -- forward Shane Grier and Josh Onwordi.

#4 Apollo: The Hawks suffered a similar fate to Mountain Ridge except in D-II state tournament action last winter. Apollo was the No. 3 seed and bowed to surprising Sunrise Mountain in the round of 16 in a one-point loss. Apollo will compete in 5A this winter. Coach Jacob Marin's team hasn't seen much action this summer, but they seek to impress this weekend.  Top players are guards Holland Woods, Jeff Perez, Dre Marin and Elloheim Clark. Woods, Perez and Marin averaged in double figures (scoring) last year.

#5 Sunnyslope: The Vikings made a great run to the D-I final where they were outlasted by Mesa High in a thrilling title game.Sunnyslope drops to 5A (from D-I/6A) and will compete in the same region as Apollo. Coach Ray Portela sports scrappy teams and last year was no exception. Six players return withtested experience. they averaged between five and nine points a game. Leading the way are forward Chris Orozco and guards, Terrance Gilder, Jaran Whitfield, Kyle Fischer, Abayev Alan and Bryson Mewhinney.

#6 Perry: The Pumas are learning this summer under new coach Sammy Duane Jr., who is back in coaching after taking a year off. He's got work to do with a more inexperienced group than he was used to at Corona del Sol. Top returnees for Perry are Rajhan Billingsluy, Blake Williams and Jake Schulte.

#7 Chandler: The Wolves ushered in new coach Ed Gibson a few weeks ago. Their focus is learning a new system and getting used to their Gibson.

#8 Scottsdale Christian: The Eagles were D-III state champs last year. They will be without their top player, forward Ethan Spry, and attempt to hold their own in this tournament. SCA will compete in 2A next season.