Servite Will Sideline Class Work as Team Bounces Into Tourney

It was a tossup. Students at Servite High School didn’t know whether they were more excited about their basketball team making the state championship tournament, or classes being canceled Friday in the team’s honor.

The Friars surprised most of the student body by clinching a spot in the state tournament with a 46-29 victory over Dos Pueblos in the Southern California Regional Division III boys’ basketball final last week.

Their fans had been cheering and posting banners on campus during the early games of the playoffs. But then the Friars lost a

game in the sectional playoffs. Banners came down and the hype died.

But the Friars played on and managed to secure a berth in the state tournament. By Wednesday, school spirit was back. Contributing to the morale boost was the announcement earlier in the week that students would have Friday off.

“Hey, if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be getting the day off,” said student Richard Gibbons.

Vice Principal Ron Publies said classes were canceled Friday to reward the team and to encourage students to travel to Oakland to support the team in its first game Saturday.

“You can just see the boost of morale in the students by their cheering and camaraderie,” said Dean of Students Gabe Seamore. “They’re up for this championship game.”

The Friars, (20-11), will be making their first appearance in the state tournament since the Catholic all-boys school opened in 1958. They play Northern California champion Hayward Mt. Eden in the state championship game at 11:15 a.m. Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum.

During the lunch hour Wednesday, students talked about last Saturday’s game and plans for car-pooling to Oakland.

Adam Thomas, 16, said he will be traveling to Oakland with his parents and brother who is an alumnus of Servite.

“I suppose the reason we’re going is because this is pretty special. We’re going to show school pride too,” Thomas said.

Another student, Joseph Bernardo, 16, said he has been following the basketball team all season and credits its success to team unity.

“The team individually is not very good,” Bernardo said, “but when they play together as a team, that’s when they’re awesome.”

Coach Richard Smith agreed that a strong sense of team unity has brought the squad this far.

In preparation for the state championship, Smith has required players to spend their lunch hour and nutrition break together.

“They need to keep together. When the game is playing, there are only five guys on the floor. But it’s important to stress to them that the last guy on the bench is just as important.

“We struggled during the preseason, but the guys continued to believe in themselves. And that’s been the theme all season, ‘to believe you can do whatever you want to do,’ ” he said.