KansasCity, MO - St. Mary’s High School coaches Byron Jones and KristaDaniels, their boys and girls junior varsity and varsity basketballteams and about 150 of their close, personal fans and friends spent amemorable Tuesday evening at the College Basketball Experience (CBE) indowntown Kansas City.

“Thisis about the coolest thing I’ve ever done with my team,” said St.Mary’s Michael Monteleone, a senior on the varsity boys basketballteam. “This shows how much the coaches care about us. This will put uson the basketball map.”



Jones,the Trojans’ second-year boys basketball coach, arranged through afriend who works at the CBE, for the St. Mary’s teams to play somepractice games in front of friends, family and Trojan fans on the CBEcourt at the Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City.

“I bet wehad 150-plus fans,” Jones said, “and you have to remember, we’re notthat big of a school. We handed out flyers about the event at the lastfootball game and the response was great.

“The kids had a great time, and so did the fans. We want to make this an annual event.”

TheCollege Basketball Experience, which houses college memorabilia andwill be the site of Sunday’s Hall of Fame induction of Larry Bird andMagic Johnson, also features a nearly full-size court with bleachers.

“Wefilled the bleachers,” Jones said. “The court is about 10 feet short ofbeing a regulation size court, and it was great to have both boys andgirls teams down there and all the fans.”

Daniels, the girls second-year coach, said she won’t soon forget the magical evening.

“Ihave to admit, it was pretty special,” she said. “When they turned downthe lights and lit up the players for their introductions, I justlooked at the kids. And the looks on their faces was something I’llnever forget.”

St. Mary’s senior Shauna Bauml saidthe girls team visited the CBE last season, but that Tuesday night’strip was much more special.

“Thelast time we went, we went on a Saturday after practice and had a greattime,” the senior standout said, “but tonight was just unbelievablewith the lights, the player introductions, the music and getting topractice on the court.

“Wedon’t get to do things like that at St. Mary’s, and none of us willever forget it. It was just so totally different than anything we hadever done in the past. And sometimes, different is really, really good.”

Theboys played a 10-minute junior varsity game, the junior varsity andvarsity girls played a 15-minute game and the boys varsity played a20-minute game.

“It wasjust so cool,” Monteleone said. “I’ve been down there a couple oftimes, but I’d never been down there and played on the court. It justmakes you wish the season started tomorrow.”

After a season-opening tournament, the boys’ regular season starts with a visit to Van Horn High School on Dec. 9.
“Wecan walk to their place, it’s so close,” Jones said. “We want to filltheir place with our fans and show them what St. Mary’s basketball isall about.

“We’re all so excitedright now,” Jones added. “We want to make this an annual event. I knowwe’re in Missouri, but I’d like to make it like “Late Night” at AllenFieldhouse (at the University of Kansas), where all the fans lookforward to it and want to be a part of it.”

To see pictures related to this article click here