Some of the best basketball talent Colorado Springs-area high schools have produced in recent years brought their games to the Sierra High School gymnasium over the weekend.

Yes, bragging rights were at stake, and a cash prize, too, but basketball wasn’t the sole reason behind the Peak City Athletics Memorial Day Summer Kickoff Tournament.

“The big picture is to build up sports programs and give our kids an outlet to play and work out,” said firm co-owner Michael Lyons, a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy who recently returned to work at Peterson Air Force Base after a season with Erie of the NBA D-League. “Once they grow as athletes, we want to take that to another level by developing them off the court as well.”

Lyons and Mitchell graduate Jeff Cooks co-founded Peak City Athletics two years ago to promote the importance and culture of youth sports in Colorado Springs.

And judging by the turnout – an estimated 300 friends and family filed into the stands when the eight-team tournament started pool play Saturday – it proved the power of sports can sway many away from other activities, especially on a holiday weekend.

“Sports can bring people together, and we’ve had a lot of guys who have had success in basketball, and the game has taken them far,” said Cooks, a former coach at Mitchell who recently joined the boys’ basketball staff as assistant under Rob Hawkins at Sand Creek. “That talent brings energy to the community.”

That talent included a veritable who’s who of Colorado Springs and state all-stars, including Josh Scott (Colorado via Lewis-Palmer), Xavier Ford (Buffalo via Harrison), Wesley Gordon (Colorado via Sierra), Matt Bouldin (Gonzaga via ThunderRidge) and Jordan Gregory (Montana via Pueblo East).

Bouldin, Ford and Scott have professional playing careers underway overseas.

One who hopes to follow in their footsteps is 2013 Wasson graduate DJ Hanes, whose team lost in the championship game.

Hanes, in town over the summer, has two years of eligibility remaining as he embarks on a new voyage at Nebraska Christian College, an NAIA school just outside of Omaha that is launching an athletics program this season.

And coming back home always makes for a reunion, no matter who wins on the scoreboard.

“It’s a cool tournament, especially to see all the talent here from Colorado Springs,” Hanes said. “I want to see where basketball can take me. I’d love to get a contract to keep playing after I get my degree. Basketball has kept me out of trouble and has given so much back to me. I just want to stay around the game.”