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St. Mary�s enjoying life on the road By Greg Stiles Traveling out of state to a basketball tournament is nothing new for the St. Mary�s Panthers of Berkeley, Calif., But six-hour van trips to Oregon are another thing. A year ago, St. Mary�s had a cast of college prospects in its starting lineup, making it desirable for the folks who put together national tournaments. The Panthers were invited to the prestigious Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C., featuring several of the nation�s top-20 prep teams. It�s one of those tournaments that builds reputations. St. Mary�s coach Jose Caraballo doesn�t pretend his 2000-01 team is of the same caliber as last year�s. But this one isn�t bad. The Abby�s Holiday Classic isn�t where reputations are built, but it generally offers coaches a chance to hone their teams prior to league play. This year, it gives St. Mary�s players a chance to bond on the long freeway journey. It also affords the big-city kids a chance to hang out with the boys from South Medford. The St. Mary�s players were matched up and are being housed with South players who play similar positions. For instance, Simon Knight spent the better part of three days with his 6-foot-8 South Medford counterpart, Eric Fiegi. St. Mary�s junior guard DeShawn Freeman, already being wooed by the likes of Oregon and Oregon State, is staying with Ryan Heil. Even the managers were housed together. Although St. Mary�s junior guard Matt Straus was born in Eugene, few of his teammates had set foot in Oregon before Wednesday. "It�s great for them to meet new kids and families they wouldn�t otherwise meet," Caraballo says. "If DeShawn ends up at Oregon or Oregon State, the families would be able to say he stayed with them." Caraballo and South Medford coach Dennis Murphy bumped into each other at the Red Bluff Daily News Holiday Classic last year. Their teams battled for third place in a game St. Mary�s won, 59-57. Because the Red Bluff tournament was scheduled this year during St. Mary�s finals, Caraballo needed another tournament. When the door was opened by Murphy, Caraballo happily joined the field. "Whenever you go away, it helps build chemistry," Caraballo says. "When you�re outside school and away from parents, it helps the kids to grow up a little." St. Mary�s divided into two vans, with Caraballo driving one and assistant coach Ed Hawkins the other. "We stop along the way and have fun," Caraballo says. "If there would�ve been snow, we would�ve played in the snow. But there wasn�t." The coach reckons that half of his players have yet to play in the snow. The Christian Brothers-run school was once known as St. Mary�s College High School and remains on the college�s former campus. (St. Mary�s College is now on the other side of the Berkeley Hills in Moraga.) The high school campus, a mile south of the University of California, has a student body of 630 that spans the socio-economic range of the East Bay. "It costs $7,000 a year to go to St. Mary�s, and we�re able to give $400,000 in aid," Caraballo says. Freeman says homework is ever-present. But you figure he finds plenty of time to perfect his hoops game. He played for the Oakland Soldiers AAU team last summer and counts former Oregon State star Gary Payton � a Berkeley native � as his favorite player. Freeman spent Friday playing video games and pool with Heil. Tonight, they�ll go nose-to-nose at the South High gym. "I wanted to see a lot of things up here," Freeman said. "But the main reason we came here was to win a basketball tournament." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.