BRIGHTON — Sometimes Divine Providence packs a punch. Literally.
OK, so maybe God’s orchestration of creation wasn’t the immediate epiphany for Owen Hopkins or Bobby Schaeffer when Hopkins’ paw accidentally POW!’ed Schaeffer’s nose as the two warmed up before Saturday’s championship bout in the Saint John’s Seminary Hoops Invitational, Vol. 4.
But looking back, it could provide pause for ponder.
How does a native of Van Horne, Iowa (Population: 774), “the best player I’ve ever played against,” Schaeffer said of Hopkins, even wind up on a court in Boston with a Long Islander who described the blood-gushing bump he absorbed as only a former college lacrosse player could: “It was so funny!”
Several strips of gauze and nasal plugs later, Schaeffer’s nose still wouldn’t stop bleeding, which forced him in and out of the title clash between Saint Brigid and Gate of Heaven to reapply Vaseline to his schnoz. Meanwhile, Hopkins helped guide “Gatey” past its South Boston brethren 55-49 to secure its first SJS Hoops Invite title — the fourth different champion in as many years of the event, but second straight from Southie.
Consider it part of the ultimate sports cliché (blood, sweat, and tears) that comes with competition. But the hustle and ultimate hoisting of hardware all point to the essence of the SJS Hoops Invite, which brought 11 teams together from the Dioceses of Boston, Worcester, and Providence in its fourth installment.
“Every person in that gym had a purpose,” Boston seminarian and Invite head organizer Nick Colón said. “They came to win, they came to struggle, they came to compete, and they did that.”
For an event focused on “fostering fatherhood on the hardwood,” as its slogan proclaims, the 11-team tournament also illuminated “the power of friendship,” said Schaeffer, who pointed to that becoming a quasi-tagline with teammates Stephen Karlberg and Colin Warner. The complementarity of fraternity and fatherhood can’t be ignored either, said Schaeffer, who, along with his wife, Lizzie, welcomed into the world their firstborn child, Robert, Jr., in August.
“Sports are all about communication with your teammates and the people who you’re playing with, and you have a common goal in mind, and that’s kind of like parenthood,” he said. “I don’t want to sound too cheesy or corny, but there’s definitely commonality between them.”
Which points back to the crux of the synergy on the court.
“Every man has a vocation to be a father in one way or another,” Colón said. “So in order to do that well, we need to struggle, we need to sacrifice, we need to communicate; we need to do all these things, and we need outlets so that we can develop these skills. All of this takes shape on the court.”
And it did, in manifold ways: in Chris Scantlebury’s one-man bench mob mentality as the podcast host provided constant chatter each time his Weymouth teammates made moves (“I love that for you!!!” Scantlebury shouted in support after one teammate’s dipsy-do drive to the cup); in Brother Anthony once again recruiting the Invite’s most rowdy fan section, captained by cheerleaders Jocelyn and Hayzleigh, who patrol the sidelines at most Immaculate Heart of Mary (Still River, Mass.) home games; in newcomer Ascension Parish (Sudbury/Maynard, Mass.), featuring long-range sniper Chez Yourk and human tower Eamon O’Malley, making their arrival known with an opening ‘dub’ over veteran squad St. Francis/St. Clare (Braintree, Mass.) … and that burly bunch’s subsequent run of resilience toward their second straight semifinals; and in Kwesi Lillard’s two high-flyin’ flushes for St. Thomas (Millis, Mass.), who enjoyed a halftime lead against Saint Brigid, the eventual runner-up.
Like his passes, Hopkins was quick to dish praise to his teammates, like Charlie Mather (“a coach-like player,” per his teammate), Nate Guzzi, and Harry Bruu, who teamed in orchestrating textbook offensive possessions. Yet the coolest part of the day for the Iowan came even before the title bout, with the Invite’s signature 3-point contest.
“Outside of prayers, that was the only time that we were all together,” Hopkins said. “Everyone was cheering on everybody. It was cool to go through that.”
The togetherness took him back to childhood hoops, he said, “when it was just a bunch of kids in a gym wanting to play basketball.”
There’s a strengthening serenity in that simplicity, too.
“Gathering people together, centered around the Gospel, and really fostering that fraternity,” Colón added, “that was really edifying for me to see.”
While Providence is rarely predictable (Case in point: Hopkins’ SJS Hoops Invite days appear done as a new job has him bound for Philadelphia on Friday), there were certainly some aspects of Saturday one could have foreseen, like St. Brendan’s Jason Potrzeba, his son Brandon, and teammate James McShane familiarly perched atop the stands soaking in the championship (an all-Southie final for a second straight year); Hingham Catholic, revved by Trent “The Tank” Richards’ hustle plays, snatching a second-straight bronze trophy; SJS rector Monsignor Salocks setting the tone once again with an opening blessing; and an underlying notion that the day’s proceedings truly transcend the game of basketball, emphasized most poignantly in Fr. Brian Daley’s homily during Holy Mass.
“Many parishes compete today, all bringing something different to offer, but we Christians compete with deeper purpose,” said Fr. Daley, who was ordained a priest last May and suited up once more for the SJS squad at the Invite. “Victories humble us; they make us thankful that the most important victory has already been won. Losses remind us to pick our teammates up, just like life losses remind us that only the perfect teammate, Christ, picks us up in the end.
“Win or lose, how we battle matters most, because as Catholics, we all compete on the same team in life.”
