High school basketball season is here.

This is the weekend of opening tip-off tournaments, with teams scattering here, there and everywhere.

A few of our local schools — A-C Valley, Freeport, Grove City, Slippery Rock and Seneca Valley — are hosting either a boys or girls tournament, or both.

Other Butler County teams are playing at Hempfield, South Park, Armstrong, Pine-Richland, Brookville, Oakland Catholic, South Fayette, Montour, Indiana, etc.

Everything is so spread out, so fragmented.

That’s a shame.

Opening weekend of basketball should be a celebration of the sport. It should be structured in a way that generates excitement, anticipation and true competition, accompanied with bragging rights.

It should be an event that packs a gym to the rafters, thus creating an electric atmosphere.

It should also showcase some of the elite talent the immediate area has to offer, thus building interest in the teams and encouraging more attendance at future games.

Hmmm ... how to do this.

Perhaps putting together all-local tip-off tournaments, complete with MVP and team championship trophies, is the answer.

How about this for an annual tip-off tournament? Get Butler, Knoch, Seneca Valley and Mars together for a weekend, both boys and girls.

The first round of four games is played Friday, the consolation and title games are played Saturday. Or you could have the girls tournament hosted by one school, the boys tournament by another.

For smaller schools, how about putting Karns City, Moniteau, Slippery Rock and Grove City together under the same format?

The immediate argument against this is that Butler and Seneca Valley, Mars and Knoch, Karns City and Moniteau, Slippery Rock and Grove City, already play each other during the season. So why do it again? The coaches probably wouldn’t want such intense match-ups right off the bat.

It shouldn’t matter.

Seeing Butler play Seneca Valley or Knoch square off with Mars three times in a season wouldn’t be a bad thing for local basketball. Neither would seeing season-opening games like Butler vs. Knoch, Karns City vs. Slippery Rock, Seneca Valley vs. Mars, etc.

Again, we’re talking about a celebration of the game. These tip-iff games would not be as polished or as intense as the meetings later in the regular season would be.

But they would be just as interesting.

Butler County Tourism has reportedly expressed interest in seeing all-local tip-off tournaments like this happen. It is willing to lend its support in making them happen.

Fire up the bus and head to South Park, Brookville or Indiana?

Nah. Come on. Stay home. Schools would save on gas.

And generate a lot more fun.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle