Two Years Is a Long Trip, Even for Avalon’s ‘Family’ : Prep basketball: Players yearn for a home game as Catalina school waits for a gym to be built.

Since their gymnasium was condemned because of the presence of asbestos three years ago, the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams at Avalon High on Catalina Island have faced tough times.

They call themselves the basketball refugees of the CIF Southern Section, and they say they are tired of taking their show on the road.

At first, they were allowed to play home games in the grand ballroom of the island’s famous Casino building, but for the last two seasons, Avalon has had to play all of its games on the mainland. Coaches and players say the weekly excursion to Los Angeles is taking the fun out of the game.

“If this setup was permanent, I don’t know how much longer I would be interested in coaching here,” said Diane Groh, the girls’ basketball coach. “All of this traveling really takes a toll. It’s hard to get motivated to go away every weekend.”

The traveling is not only tiring, but expensive. The athletic department is $33,000 in debt over the past two years, according to Mark Ur, Avalon’s principal. The school picks up all traveling and lodging expenses for athletes, coaches and chaperones. That would include about 60 people during basketball season. Meals are not included.

Groh said the coaches buy a lot of hamburgers.

“We can’t have kids going without food,” she said.

The team receives a reduced round-trip boat fare of $21 between Catalina and Long Beach, and four players share a hotel room. Still, the costs soar.

Expenses aside, team morale is a problem. Groh and David Lassiter, the boys’ coach, say several players did not come out this season because of all the traveling. A home game at Avalon used to be a community event. Lassiter says the gym was always packed on Friday nights.

“This is a small community, so what happens at the high school is important to everyone,” he said. “High school basketball was big time over here.

“We still get a lot of support, but it is hard for all of our fans to follow us now because we no longer play here. They’ve been great, but they’re ready for us to come back to Catalina.”

Players who have never played a home game say they look forward to next season, when a new gym is expected to be ready. After two years of begging for funding, Avalon was finally granted $2.4 million through the state school-building bond last summer.

Officials of the Long Beach Unified School district, to which Avalon belongs, say the district could never have afforded such a project.

Construction of the 9,000-square-foot gym--being built next to the locker rooms on the opposite side of the old field house--is already a month behind schedule, but Ur hopes it will be completed by fall.

“I’m really looking forward to my first home game,” said Travis McKay, a sophomore starter on the boys’ varsity. “I want to play before a packed house with everyone screaming and yelling. I’ve never known that, and I really want that feeling.”

Avalon’s problems started in 1987 when the district planned some repairs to the field house, which was constructed of metal. When repairs were assessed, asbestos was discovered.

Attempts were made to remove the asbestos in the summer of 1988, but the harmful material was so widespread that the state division of occupational safety and health condemned the building. It was torn down in January of 1989.

“We came back to school one day and the whole building was gone,” Lassiter recalled. “Before the demolition, the building had been all locked up so no one could go in it. It was eerie.”

The Avalon gym was the first in the state to be torn down because of asbestos, according to Phil Schearer of the state office of local assistance. Schearer said the asbestos was integrated in the building material and had probably been there since construction in the early 1950s.

There is no other indoor basketball facility on the island, but there was never any talk of dropping the sport. Basketball is one of three sports offered at Avalon, which has 120 students in the senior high division.

After the field house was torn down, the area was cleared and converted to outdoor basketball courts. Tennis courts next to the area also were changed to accommodate basketball.

The teams practice outdoors, and Groh says the weather has been so cooperative this winter that she has had to cancel only two practices. A rough winter, she adds, would devastate the team.

Lassiter says his team has a hard time adjusting from asphalt to an indoor wooden court.

“It always takes them one quarter of each game to get used to the change,” he said. “They certainly can dive a lot more indoors. I don’t think there are many high school teams that could beat us outdoors. There is really a difference in playing surfaces.”

During the 1988-89 season, Avalon played its home games in the grand ballroom of the historic Casino. A wooden floor was put down and portable baskets were brought in. Folding chairs were set up for fans. Although dim lighting left certain blind spots on the court, the elegant setting was a real treat for visiting teams.

The temporary home lasted for only one season, however, because the Casino underwent extensive remodeling shortly thereafter. So Avalon scheduled all of its games for 1989-90 on the road and has done the same this season.

Avalon competes in the Liberty League, made up mainly of small schools in the San Fernando Valley. For travel considerations, the Lancers always play the same team two days in a row.

The Avalon teams get out of school early on Friday and leave the island before noon. Players usually spend the one-hour boat ride catching up on homework or listening to music. Several parents also make the journey to help with supervision.

“Most kids don’t know anything else, so all this travel is normal to them,” said Karen McKay, Travis’ mother and the school librarian. “They handle all of this very well. I have never had a discipline problem. Just the opposite, I enjoy these trips because the kids are so well behaved.”

Most of the players grew up in Avalon, so they know each other well. Coaches say they are “like one big family” and they rarely have discipline problems on trips.

A school bus meets the boat in Long Beach and takes the teams to their hotel. The boys’ junior varsity game usually starts at 4 p.m., followed by the girls’ varsity and then the boys’ varsity. The teams eat a late dinner and get back to the hotel about 11 p.m.

The nights are short, since play resumes at 9 on Saturday morning. If the hotel is not close to the school, the teams have to sit through all three games. Those can be long, uncomfortable waits, especially for the boys’ varsity.

The traveling ends with the boat ride back to Avalon late Saturday afternoon. Players are home in time for dinner.

The school’s four cheerleaders also make the weekly journey to provide support. Squad captain Terri McAdams says she looks forward to the trips so she can sneak away to the shopping malls, since there are none on Catalina.

Sophomore player Amy Upton enjoys the camaraderie.

“We all know each other so well that we’re like sisters,” she said. “We never have any petty fights and there aren’t any cliques.

“Sure, we’d like to have our own gym, but we make the most of the situation.”

Although the varsity teams are playing .500 ball this season, victories are always cherished. Against Oakwood on Feb. 1, the Lancers were looking for a lift after the junior varsity and girls’ varsity had lost.

The boys’ varsity game was close throughout, and the Lancers found themselves down by two points with two seconds remaining. After an Oakwood turnover, senior forward Chad Quesenberry got the ball in time to launch a 30-foot shot at the buzzer. He made it and Avalon escaped with a 48-46 victory, sending the small contingency of fans into a frenzy.

“It made sitting here for five hours well worth it,” Ur said. “This is the reason why the kids still have the motivation to play every game. There’s nothing like the thrill of winning.”

Avalon ended the regular season Saturday with a series against Burbank Providence. The Lancers will play in the Division V-A qualifying round of the playoffs, which will be tonight at Pasadena Poly for the boys and Wednesday at Mary Star in San Pedro for the girls.

And next year, Avalon looks forward to the chance to be the host school for a playoff game.