Over the past few years, some of the pickup basketball games at the Spokane Club might have reminded you of a college arena in the 2000s.

It wasn't close to turn back the clock day on Saturday afternoon, but some of those Spokane Club players showed they've still got in on Nike Center Court in Riverfront Park.

Matt Dlouhy, who played at Lake City High and Montana, helped the squad to a 2-0 start in the 6-foot-and-over men's elite division in the 25th annual Hoopfest 3-on-3 basketball tournament in downtown Spokane.

"I haven't played at Hoopfest in so long," said Dlouhy, 27. "For me, it's the memories of playing as a kid from the time I was 6 until 15. It's the first time I've played as an adult, and it really helps having the referees calling fouls."

Dlouhy's teammates - former Gonzaga Bulldogs Blake Stepp and Cory Violette, as well as Spokane native Robert Lippman, who played at NCAA Division II Northwest Nazarene in Nampa - aren't strangers to the area either.

"We all play at the Spokane Club and have traveled to a couple of tournaments together," Dlouhy said. "Blake thought it would a fun idea to put together a 3-on-3, and we're trying to revive our careers a little bit, so hopefully it will turn out well."

So far, so good as the team went 2-0 and will play in a quarterfinal game today at 9 a.m. back at Nike Center Court.

"We try to play at least two or three times a week and try to stay competitive," Dlouhy said. "It's always very competitive (during pickup games) and it's great at this age to be home and play great basketball."

These days, Dlouhy is back in the area, working for a Seattle-based insurance company.

"I'm living in Coeur d'Alene now and just enjoy being around family," Dlouhy said. "I just really enjoy being home."

"Matt brings a lot to the table for us," Stepp said. "He's so athletic, can shoot and he's able to guard everyone on the court. Being able to shoot and hit free throws is big in this tournament."

For Stepp, it is also his first time at Hoopfest in quite a while.

"It's my first time really playing in the Elite Division here," Stepp said. "So it's pretty nice to be able to do that. Hopefully I can stay healthy throughout the weekend."

"I'm just going to ride Blake and Cory's coat tails and see if we can make some progress," said Dlouhy, who played professionally in Germany and Finland after college. "We're always in Spokane together. We'll go play and then grab a beer. It's been a fun time getting to know these guys."

ANOTHER UNBEATEN from the area came from Dream Team Ryan - made up of Ryan Sullivan, Rickey Zent, Casey Shaneman and Tyler Morris - which advanced in the Buck and Affiliates Insurance Court in the Unified Division.

The Unified Division is for players with developmental disabilities who wish to play with non-disabled friends or family. Each team must consist of two players with disabilities and two without.

"I like to play basketball and it's been my favorite sport for a long time," Zent said. "I've played with Ryan for the last four years now and he's a really cool guy."

Zent and Sullivan missed last year's Hoopfest as the state Special Olympics Games were held on the same weekend in 2013.

"I really enjoy getting to come here and play," said Zent, who played on the "C" team as a freshman at Kellogg High before serving as the varsity team manager for three years. "I look forward to it every year."

Sullivan is a team manager for the North Idaho College men's basketball team.

"We're doing better as a group and have a good time," Sullivan said. "We just play hard and I try to do my best."

PRECISION FITNESS, also in the 6-foot-and-over men's elite division, had a bit of a Cardinal feel to it on Saturday, with former NIC players Nick Fromm, Scott Stockwell, Shea Bradshaw and Zach Parks, who played with Stockwell at NAIA Carroll.

Stockwell, the former Post Falls High standout who is an assistant varsity basketball coach at Lakeland High, had most of the returning Hawks varsity watching the coach get it done in a 20-9 win against TRthreeBALL to open the tournament.

"I noticed them here, and I'm a little more comfortable with them being here," Stockwell said. "I'm with them all the time, so it's like another day in the gym for me."

Fromm, who also played at Lake City, concluded his college career at Lewis-Clark State in 2013.

"I've just been snowboarding and working a lot at Costco," Fromm said. "I got my EMT license and am going to be a fireman."

While playing professionally in Europe was an option, Fromm declined for reasonable reasons.

"I decided I didn't want my body to hate me when I'm 50," Fromm said. "So I took a little time off, worked out and tried to get a career started."

Precision Fitness went on to lose its second game to Wheatland Bank, then was eliminated with a loss to New Jack City.

AFTER PLAYING her first year of college basketball at NIC, Panisesi Taimani checked off another first - first Hoopfest.

"Morgan (Grier) said there'd be at least a million people down here this weekend watching games," said Taimani, from Kennewick, Wash. "I did not think that was possible, but this is a huge tournament."

Taimani, as well as Cardinal teammates Bailey Schroeder, Morgan Grier and Sabrina Earle, made up Bird Gang in the women's elite division.

"We all have college experience, so we thought it would be the best bracket for us," Grier said. "It's challenging."

Grier opted not to return to NIC next season, and said she will transfer to Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Wash.

"It's a better fit for me," Grier said. "It's kind of sad this is my last time on the same court as them as teammates, but I'll see them a lot next season because we'll play them twice in preseason (nonconference) games."

Bird Gang went 0-2 on Saturday and will play in the consolation bracket today.