GRIDLEY >> The longest running boys basketball tournament in California tipped off for a 70th year Thursday night, bringing some of the top Northern California teams to Butte County.

The Gridley High School Invitational basketball tournament dates back to 1953, and each year the tournament is more than just basketball.

Players stay at host families in the Gridley community and get the opportunity to experience life on farms and in the rural communities, the competition showcased is often fierce with high caliber open division and Division I teams. Players from Gridley High School get to see and play against high caliber teams, and as Salesian College Preparatory head coach Bill Mellis said, “They have these national tournaments now which are great, you get to play teams from all over the country which is cool, but there’s nothing like this. This is unique.”

Coaches and basketball enthusiasts from across Butte County could be seen in attendance, showing a sense of togetherness and support.

Tournament director Chris McIntyre, who has been a part of the Gridley Invitational for 25 years and been the tournament director for the past 20, said the tradition has always been to get the best teams from the Bay Area to attend.

“It’s just a tradition of having the inner-city kids come to a rural community and just see a different lifestyle,” McIntyre said. “Most of these kids have never been out of the Bay Area or where they live, definitely not north of Sacramento, so it’s a great experience not just for these players but for the community of Gridley and our basketball team. They get to see a different caliber than they will ever see during the year.”

Mellis, who case coached the Pride for 27 seasons and attended the Gridley Invitational for 20 years, said what draws he and his team back each season is the details that the community of Gridley and its tournament staff pay attention to and showcase each year.

“The hospitality, the competition, the officiating, the hospitality room speaks for itself, and they just think of every detail,” Mellis said. “They house the kids, they do the stats, they give you managers on the bench (6th and 7th graders), just every detail is covered. When you’ve done it for 70 years I think they know what they’re doing.”

With national tournaments available to play in with teams across the country, the Gridley Invitational showcases a hometown feel with many of the best Northern California teams.

“It’s an old school, true, traditional, high school tournament and it’s really cool,” Mellis said.

This year’s tournament features Gridley High School, Salesian from Richmond, Clayton Valley Charter from Concord, Archbishop Riordan from San Francisco, San Ramon Valley from San Ramon, Branson from Ross, Destiny Christian from Sacramento and Clovis North from Fresno.

Gridley played in its first game of the tournament Thursday night, losing 76-25.

The Bulldogs’ defense blocked a shot and got a steal on the first Salesian possession, but missed a 3-pointer on their opening possession. The Pride went on an 11-2 run and led 24-11 after the first quarter. Jacob Boyan made a layup, Thiago Rosales made a 3-pointer, and Paulo Ramirez made two 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the first quarter.

Salesian outscored Gridley 27-6 in the first quarter and took a 51-17 lead into halftime, before the Pride outscored the Bulldogs 21-4 in the third quarter to take a 72-21 lead.

Gridley head coach Nathan Link said each year the Gridley Invitational is a unique experience for his players to see the highest level of basketball in California. It challenges them, but admitted it is difficult to get momentum at times. The Bulldogs have just four seniors on their roster, with the remaining seven players being juniors. Link said for all but three players, this was their first tournament game they’ve played in.

“There’s a lot of little things that we try to teach the kids over the course of the year, where sometimes they can get away without doing it, but when we play good teams they start to see the importance of the little details,” Link said. “Things like fundamentals, and things we talk about when you catch a pass, or shortening up a pass, or the details within an offense, an angle of a screen, what a counter to it is if they do this or that or coverages of ball screens. Just trying to learn that this is how teams will attack it and this is what we need to be able to do.”

“There’s a big gap between us and them, but I try to tell them that anything we can do successfully against them, we can do against our league. It’s more the speed of the game and the details.”

Tournament play will continue Friday, with Salesian (5-0) playing at 8:30 p.m. Friday, and Gridley (5-1) playing at 5:30 p.m. Clayton Valley Charter will face Branson at 4 p.m., and Clovis North will face Archbishop Riordan at 7 p.m.

The price for admission to games is $10 per day. Fans can follow the tournament on the Gridley Invitational Basketball Tournament Facebook page, on Twitter (@OfficialGIBT), or by watching on the NFHS Network at https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/.