For Cameli, another win at Thornton ‘awesome’
PHIL ARVIA parvia@southtownstar.com | (708) 633-5949 April 16, 2011 10:50PM
2011 All-Stars coach Sam Cameli holds on to McLegends' Antwaan Randle El and tries to prevent him from playing during the McLegends X basketball game at Thornton High School in Harvey Saturday, April 16, 2011. | Brett Roseman ~ Sun-Times Media
Updated: June 16, 2011 12:16AM
Sam Cameli’s sideline posture always has been that of a human apostrophe, a man weighed down by some unseen burden perhaps related to his inner certainty that every blessed official he’d ever seen had it in for him.
Saturday at Thornton, if Cameli seemed a bit more stooped than when last he roamed the Wildcats’ sideline, blame the 16 years he’d been away, or the 76 years he’s been on the planet.
Cameli was burdened not the least bit on the occasion of McLegends X.
His Boys High School All-Stars beat the Coca-Cola McLegends 123-122 in overtime, snapping the legends’ five-game winning streak. It also marked the first time McLegends teammates and former Thornton greats Antwaan Randle El and Napoleon Harris ever lost on their high school home court.
Cynics might suggest they finally lost to the man who should have coached them all those years ago. After all, Cameli was pushed out of the gig just as Randle El and Harris were heading into their sophomore years.
Randle El, cynicism’s kryptonite, chose a sunnier spin.
“I’d say if we’re going to have to lose, I’m glad it’s to Sam,” Randle El said.
Glad ruled the day at McLegends X, where young and old split the doubleheader. The Beggars Pizza Lady McLegends topped the Girls All-Stars 105-68, exacting a measure of revenge for getting blown out a year ago.
Glad certainly described Cameli, who otherwise groped to define his mood.
“If there’s another word beter than awesome, I don’t know,” he said. “It’s awesome to be back in this gym. It’s awesome to coach a bunch of kids so totally receptive to coaching — there was just no quit in them.”
Glad even worked for the vanquished Girls All-Stars.
“I got to play with some new players. I played against some legends. It was a good experience,” Hillcrest’s Yolanda De La Torre said.
And an eye-opening one.
“They’re big,” Sandburg’s Katie Winchel said of the Lady McLegends. “They’re strong. And fast.”
That about covers it.
Rumor has it this Lady McLegends roster was constructed by the game’s eventual MVP, Rachel Gromola, and SouthtownStar girls veteran sports writer Tony Baranek over a few pints at a local watering hole.
With three Division I players and an NAIA All-American coming off the bench, it was a stunningly strong group — and an attentive one.
In a pregame huddle in a hallway outside the Thornton gym, coach Jenna Rubino was tweaking an inbounds play and doling out defensive matchups when Roslyn Turner piped in, “They’re going to run us. We’re not having that.”
Instead, what the girls had is what the McLegends games have been giving high school seniors for 10 years: their first “college” game.
“It was like way faster, and they just would not miss anything,” Mother McAuley’s Molly Stasaitis said.
“We thought they were going to get tired,” Lockport’s Gintare Surdokaite said. “But even if they were ... they kept pushing.”
So did the men. Unfortunately, not everyone was on hand to push — though Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall was a surprise addition to the squad and Bears cornerback D.J. Moore a revelation as a last-minute replacement for Tai Streets.
Harris had to leave early for his cousin’s wedding. Rodney Harrison, a great point guard at Marian before moving on to a 15-year career in the NFL, tweaked a knee in the first quarter and never returned — though he and Cameli worked the refs side by side for much of the second half and overtime.
“I’m going to come back next year and play,” Harrison said. “But you’ve got to give us old guys some props. I was proud of us. We’re getting older every year, but that All-Star team is staying 17, 18 years old.”
Maybe we can put Baranek to work tweaking the McLegends roster. Or better yet, get Cameli to coach it.
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