It’s all fun and games … until the clock starts counting down the final minute of play.

Camaraderie and a little competitive spirit were on display when four high school boys basketball teams from Ann Arbor took to the court for a round-robin tournament at Father Gabriel Richard High School on Wednesday night.

Pioneer coach Rex Stanczak said he started the Ann Arbor Summer Shootout four years ago not so much for the gamesmanship, but primarily “for the camaraderie of the programs and letting the community see that we play pretty good basketball in Ann Arbor.”

But the purpose of the evening didn’t extinguish the desire to win. That was evident down the stretch of Pioneer’s losses to Huron and Gabriel Richard, when effort and emotion peaked in the final few minutes of play.

Huron coach Waleed Samaha demonstrated the light-hearted mood of the games when he used Stanczak’s last remaining timeout to draw up an inbounds play with 1.7 seconds left in their game.

River Rat senior-to-be Matt Hastings drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime and Huron’s Jeff Hugan scored the game winner in a first-to-score-wins overtime session for a 32-30 victory.

“I think everyone has a pretty relaxed approach to this event. Everyone knows it doesn’t matter until the games are played in the winter time," Samaha said. "It’s just a chance for the kids to get out and play and for the community to come out and watch.”

Gabriel Richard then beat Pioneer 32-31 when sophomore Kamari Davis made a pretty pass into senior Darren Washington for a buzzer-beating layup.

Huron completed its sweep of the tournament with a 33-27 win over Gabriel Richard in the night’s final contest. Games were played with two running, 12-minute halves.

While Huron, Pioneer and Skyline - which rounded out the field - will all see each other during the regular season, this unofficial summer tournament is a chance for Gabriel Richard to face off against the city’s public schools.

“For us, it’s an opportunity to play against local teams that we normally don’t get to square off against,” Schoch said. “Plus, we get to play some good teams. Ann Arbor basketball has come a long way.”

Skyline, which will play a complete varsity schedule for the first time this winter, went 0-3. The Eagles lost to Gabriel Richard (34-22), Huron (46-35) and Pioneer (47-29).

“This was all about seeing what high-level basketball is about and what it takes to get there,” Skyline coach Mike Lovelace said of the tournament.

With Huron returning seven of its top 10 players from a 23-5 team that finished as Class A state runners-up on one side of town and a Pioneer squad that brings back 10 members of its varsity roster that went 13-8 a year ago, the 2010-11 season will be a challenging one for Skyline to make its presence felt in the city and the Southeastern Conference Red Division.

“It’s going to be tough for us no matter what,” said Lovelace, whose team will not have a senior on the roster. “(The local competition) makes it even tougher.

“Tonight is not any indication of how we’re going to fare next year. It’s just a chance to go out and compete and have some fun in the summer.”

But all three opposing coaches left the event confident that Skyline was in fine shape. The Eagles were 15-4 last year, including 5-1 against varsity opponents, and won an MHSAA varsity district game for the second straight season.

“I think Skyline is going to be good. They remind me, in terms of personnel, of my team a couple years ago when we were really young,” Samaha said. “It’s going to be fun. Basketball is alive and well in Ann Arbor.”

Rich Rezler covers high school sports for AnnArbor.com. Contact him at 734-623-2565 or richrezler@annarbor.com.