The Head Coach at Antonian is Charlie Boggess. Coach Smisek, the St. Anthony Head Coach, was an assistant under Charlie Boggess when Boggess was the Head Coach at Alamo Heights. Boggess was with Alamo Heights for 33 years (wow, that is almost my entire life…I am 35 years old) and is the areas all time winningest coach!!
I didn’t work a lot of Alamo Heights football games, but when I did, I would often see Charlie in the press-box with the film crew. One Alamo Heights football game I will always remember was when they played at Southside stadium several years ago. First, the stadium is located across from a pig farm and for that particular game, the wind was blowing toward the stadium and OMG, it smelled really bad! Second, there must have a been a cricket convention cause those annoying critters were all over the place. And finally, one of the members of the Alamo Heights film crew (not Boggess, but if it was, this story would become viral) ran into to the press-box and pulled his pants down…he had crickets in his pants!!
I never got the opportunity (I wish I did, though) during the football season to see Sterling Holmes play last season for the Antonian Apaches. He was the running back…230 carries for 1,912 yards and 26 touchdowns; absolutely unbelievable numbers!!! So, when I peaked at the Antonian basketball roster and saw his name on it, I couldn’t wait to see him running around the court!!!
Yes folks, I always do homework on my subjects…I can’t just go in blind, I am an “amateur sports writer” trying to become a “recognized sports writer”!
I think that is enough about High School football; let’s get to the main purpose of this blog and that is St. Anthony basketball!!
On January 16th, I attended the St. Anthony VS San Marcos Home School game at the Hive.
The Yellow Jackets won by 20 points and Jackson Becker had a huge game with 26 points. I was really excited that I get to see St. Anthony play again; this time on the road at Antonian.
I really felt like a professional as I walked into the gym with an official photographer (it was my Dad) and immediately shook hands with Coach Smisek and Alejandro Calderon!
My Dad was having a blast all night long messing with the camera settings and snapping a bunch of pictures. He even got to play with a new toy…a telephoto lens!!
He is not as big of a sports fan as I am, but when we are together, we always have a great time! I am dragging him, my Mom and my Wife with me to a baseball game at the Alamodome on March 30th (there will definitely be a blog written about that game). It is kinda funny that my Dad has been to more games with me now then when I was the Manager of the Clark High school basketball team!
Before the game started, I got an opportunity to speak with Coach Smisek. Yep, he was nervous (he didn’t look it though) about going up against Charlie Boggess…he was like, we know what they are gonna do and they know what we are gonna do; who will do it better? As we were watching his team warm-up, he told me they also look nervous. He mentioned this is Antonian’s home court and they are gonna shoot lights out…we just gotta keep the game close and if so, we got a chance to win! Maybe next time I speak to the Coach before a game, I can record it and include the audio instead of using words. I just hate to hear to my own voice so if that happens, I will never listen to it.
it’s me
We settled in the bleachers directly behind the St. Anthony bench. I did schmooze with a fan sitting next to me and she was very nice and friendly, but I mainly talked to my Dad and watched the game and took notes.
Before I jump into the game, I gotta mention how energetic the gym was! The gym is a little bit bigger than the Hive and it was full of fans from both teams. There was a student section from Antonian and they were extremely loud and right behind me was some young St. Anthony fans and they were also loud. There was another fan sitting behind me and I can still hear him screaming, Hands Up!!! I was surprised to see the cheerleaders for both teams represent!
The first quarter felt like both teams were just getting to know each other and when the quarter ended, St. Anthony had a 3-point lead going into the 2nd quarter. Sweet!! David Wright, the Yellow Jackets center, had a huge block and then got rewarded with a layup!!! That was awesome. I again, found myself cheering for St. Anthony and my Dad joined me in a great clapping exercise.
At halftime, St. Anthony held a 1-point lead. Jackson Becker had 7 points, Khalil Howard had 5 points, and Brandon Armstrong had 7 points. Sterling Holmes, the Antonian guard, wasn’t impressive; he is just super strong and one heck of an athlete.
In the third quarter, Antonian shot lights as Chris Molina, an Antonian guard, was the main culprit. Sterling Holmes also got going as he made some layups. When the buzzer sounded to mark the end of the quarter, St. Anthony trailed by 6. Man, the Yellow Jackets never gave up and kept playing hard when the lead was relinquished.
It was the Molina and Holmes show in the 4th quarter, but I gotta give a bunch of credit to St. Anthony as they hustled on each and every play till the final buzzer sounded. Coach Smisek kept the team motivated and he never gave up either.
The final score was 69 to 56 Antonian. I was really impressed by Chris Molina, the Antonian guard; he scored 26 points. Sterling Holmes, another Antonian guard scored 18 points.
Jackson Becker scored 22 points and Khalil Howard scored 19 points. Brandon Armstrong, Jax Chavez, Stephen Wallace, and David Wright (not the NY Met) scored the rest of the points.
Throughout the game, both teams played really physical ball and sometimes the refs let em play and other times, the refs called fouls. Both coaches voiced there opinions of the fouls with the officials.
On Thursday night, I got a call from my Dad…he saw a news blurb that Coach Boggess was suspended for throwing a water bottle that ended up hitting a fan..I was like really!!! Was he angry at a particular call? Probably, but to be honest, I don’t know cause I didn’t see it happen.
I know that when these teams play again on February 2nd at Incarnate Word, the outcome will be different.
On Wednesday, January 30th, I will be at the University of Incarnate Word for another TAPPS District 2-5A game between your St. Anthony Yellow Jackets and the Central Catholic Buttons.
I am having an awesome time hanging with the Yellow Jackets and am going to attend another game on Wednesday, February 6th at the Hive as the Yellow Jackets play Austin St. Michael’s for yet another thrilling TAPPS District 2-5A game.
I am also planning on attending the TAPPS District 2-5A tournament on Friday, February 15th and Saturday, February 16th at the University of Incarnate Word. How cool is it that by the time the TAPPS District 2-5A tournament starts, I will have seen all the teams in the District play!!!