Good Friends, Better Rivals

When the Archdiocese of Baltimore elected to close the Cardinal Gibbons School earlier this year, it split up classmates, teammates and friends. The nearly 250 underclassmen that would not graduate at the end of the academic year were forced to enroll in other schools to continue their education.

Three of those students will take the court at Lansdowne High School Monday evening, no longer as classmates, but as rivals when the Vikings play the Catonsville Comets at 5:15 p.m.

Lansdowne senior Gregory Schene was playing basketball with his friends, including some fellow Gibbons students, at a park near his house in Arbutus when the the Archdiocese's decision was announced. In a short period of time, all of the Gibbons students received phone calls from parents and friends with the news.

"It was mostly just a feeling of shock," said Schene, who found out that his grade school, Ascension, would also be closed.

A member of the Gibbons varsity basketball team, Schene said he didn't know what would happen or where he would go for his senior year. He and his parents opted for him to finish high school at Lansdowne. He was invited to play on a summer league team with a number of the returning players from the Vikings' varsity squad. It was when he first suited up with that team that the reality of the situation truly set in.

"It made me realize that I wasn't going back to Gibbons," he said. "It was hard, but when playing with those guys, it also made me realize that everything was going to be fine and I was going to be OK."

Schene's longtime friend, Graham Antoszewski, also opted to attend public school. However, he was districted for Catonsville High. Schene and Antoszewski have played basketball together since third grade, many years for Ascension, a team coached by Schene's father, Greg.

The transition for both Schene and Antoszewski was eased because of the many friendships they had made outside the school community over the years, through rec leagues and other social connections. Nonetheless, changing schools for one last year, especially from a small Catholic high school to a large public school, was a difficult shift.

"It hurt, because they closed Gibbons and I took a lot of pride in my school. I have my senior portrait and class ring from Gibbons. I need to uphold what they have taught me and apply it in a different place," said Antoszewski. "Now, I'm proud that I go to Catonsville."

Antoszewski used basketball as a way to form that bond in Catonsville he had lost after Gibbons was closed. He worked hard on the court, forged strong relationships with his teammates and was even elected co-captain.

On Monday night, Antoszewski and the Comets will march into Lansdowne to face Schene, former Gibbons student Alex Kurth, and the rest of the Vikings in what both sides describe as one of the more fierce rivalries they've experienced.

"It's not just the players, but the rest of the students that you hear it from. Everybody is excited about it," said Schene. "We are going to have people painted, cheering in the stands and everything."

The proximity of the schools and the crossover in social groups drives the rivalry. Antoszewski said, "I keep being told this is the biggest game of the season."

Meanwhile, Schene's parents, Greg and Christine, will be sitting in the stands, watching a game they did not anticipate attending this time last year. The new surroundings have quickly become home for the Schene family, who have had only positive reviews of the transition. Greg, who was an assistant varsity coach at Gibbons, said he's been impressed with his son and his former classmates' resiliency.

"Regardless of the name on your jersey, it's the friendships with your teammates and coaches," he said. "The relationships you form there will last a lifetime. They'll always have those relationships with their Gibbons teammates and they now have this opportunity to forge new bonds and new relationships with new teammates. Out of all of this, there is opportunity."