At St.Paul's, sports is a teacher too

By Bill Doyle | CFP Correspondent

Sports teaches you to overcome adversity. If you’re in a slump or on a losing streak, don’t give up.
No sports season taught Cody Smith or Connor Knowles more about fighting through tough times than the one that the St. Paul Diocesan Junior/Senior High School boys’ basketball team experienced this winter.
And the adversity had nothing to do with wins and losses for the Knights, who finished with a 4-4 record. It was all about playing with former rivals, at a new school, during a pandemic.
“It’s definitely been one of the most challenging seasons of any sport I’ve ever had,” Cody said. “It has its ups and downs, and as in life, it has its challenges, and you have to overcome them and battle through those challenges and make the most of every opportunity that you get.”
Last winter, Cody and Connor were rivals. Cody played for St. Peter-Marian and Connor for Holy Name. This winter, they were teammates for St. Paul, the new school which opened last fall after Holy Name and St. Peter-Marian merged due to declining enrollment.
Usually, high school basketball teams play 20 regular-season games with the goal of qualifying for the postseason. This year, the pandemic shortened the season to eight games and cancelled postseason play. Players wore masks and fans weren’t allowed to attend games.
St. Paul had to stop practicing twice, for two weeks, each time, while the school switched to fully remote learning in order to stay safe from COVID-19. The Knights practiced only 11 times all season. St. Paul coach Jason Chavoor said his Holy Name teams would practice 11 times before their season openers and that St. Paul had all 12 of its players available for only three practices this winter.
“I’ve been around for a long time and I’ve coached for a lot of exhausting seasons,” said Mr. Chavoor, who coached at Holy Name for 20 years, 18 of them as head varsity coach, “but the uncertainty and the instability of this has made it a very, very exhausting season despite having only eight games and 11 practices.”
Mr. Chavoor learned to be flexible.
“It’s sort of like being a chef at a restaurant,” he said, “and showing up every night not knowing what you have to cook.”
Nevertheless, the Knights made the most of the little time they had together.
“It’s certainly had its challenges,” Cody said, “but I think the sport of basketball unified us. The biggest challenge is not knowing what tomorrow brings. Tomorrow, it could all end. You don’t know if you’re playing in a game or can even have practice.”
“From when the pandemic first came and we all got shut down,” Connor said, “I’ve learned so much about everything, about life, about myself, and to push through and work hard. I think everyone has learned a lot.”
St. Paul didn’t play its first boys’ basketball game until Jan. 29, six weeks later than usual, and lost 71-50 at home to Wachusett, which had already played two games. The Knights lost three of their first four games, but they won three of their last four. They came within a last-second, tipped 3-pointer of earning revenge against Wachusett on the road.
Connor, a 5-foot-11 point guard from Northborough, plans to play Division 3 college basketball next year and he has offers from Framingham State and St. Joseph’s College of Maine. Cody, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard from Holden, has accepted a baseball scholarship to play outfield and pitch for Assumption University.
Last winter, Connor and Cody guarded each other when they played for opposing teams. This winter, they played alongside one another.
“It’s definitely weird,” said Cody, who averaged a team-high 12.1 points. “I used to go up against this guy for four quarters and now he’s on my team. It’s certainly been weird. It’s taken some time to get used to.”
It didn’t take too long, however, because many of the Knights grew up playing youth basketball together at St. Joseph Church before going their separate ways in high school.
As the starting point guard, Connor had to relay his instructions to his teammates, but that was not easy to do while wearing a mask.
“I’m just really working on trying to shout to make sure everyone can hear me and I use my hands a lot,” he said. “I try to use hand motions so my teammates can understand me.”
Mr. Chavoor was more accustomed to wearing a mask during practices and games because he wears one while teaching English at St. Paul.
Mr. Chavoor coached almost entirely new teams in the past at Holy Name after several seniors graduated, but he never had to combine two rival programs before. And he had never coached during a pandemic either.
“It’s been pretty exhausting,” he said. “Each and every day, you don’t know if you’re going to be playing the next day. We’ve had some scares during the season. No one has ever tested positive, but we’ve had some close contacts where kids have had to get tested. We’ve been paused a few times by the school.”
Connor said he’s been tested for the virus three times and tested negative each time.
“I think every time I step outside the house,” he said, “I’m afraid there’s a risk that I’m going to get the virus, but it’s a risk we’ve got to take. For school, you’ve got to risk it. For work, you’ve got to risk it. Basketball is something I love to do and it’s helping me with college right now.”
St. Paul has 12 players on the varsity, seven from Holy Name and five from St. Peter-Marian.
Seniors Tommy Dunn, who has scored more than 1,000 career points, and Malaki Brown, and freshmen Joe Okla, a 6-6 rebounder and shot blocker, and Jack McGrath were steady contributors after playing for Holy Name last year. Junior Ryan Gentilucci was among those who had played for St. Peter-Marian.
Connor said he’ll never forget this basketball season.
“Twenty years from now, I’ll be grateful that I even got to have my senior season,” he said.