This road game has a purpose

BY MICHAEL DOBIE | STAFF CORRESPONDENT

GOLDEN, Colo. - The Holy Family boys basketball teams gathered under the canvas sign that read: "Welcome Fans, Guests and Athletes."

They could go no further until their bags were searched.

"It's just different, obviously it's different," senior Jesse Trujillo said. "I've never done anything like this before."

For most players on most high school teams, a road trip to Metro Academy is unforgettable. Holy Family was no exception.

The visit to the maximum security prison for juveniles began with the first glimpse of the 16-foot fence and the barbed wire up top. Then came the search of the baggage, the passage through the metal detector, the buzz-and-open choreography of the two locked doors, and the sudden emergence inside the prison. Instantly, the bantering stopped. The mood quickly turned serious as players looked around and whispered.

"You can just feel it. It's some place you've never been before," Trujillo said.

"It's a surprise for me. I've never seen anything like it," senior Steve Bennett said. "But we're just here to play basketball."

That's what visiting players say. Teams rarely come simply to play. Metro athletic director Matt Santangelo often fields calls from other athletic directors who want to change a home game against Metro to a road contest.

"They want their kids to walk through our metal detectors," Santangelo said. "They want them to see how one stupid mistake, one night of doing something stupid, can put them here."

The theme resounded with Holy Family, a private school in the Denver suburb of Broomfield.

"This is my first experience here; this is really good for all of us," varsity coach Jim Mason said. "It's a reminder for our kids that you can't take anything for granted and a reality check on what one slip-up can do, especially for kids at a private school, many of whom have been sheltered for a while.

"We're here to win a basketball game but this is beyond a basketball game. This is an opportunity you might never have again."

Heads swiveled as Holy Family was guided across the snow-covered campus to the gym. Red and gray brick buildings flanked a central yard with soccer goals at each end, a backstop in one corner and two random bleachers. To the west, Lookout Mountain loomed. Hard winds often roar up the valley in which Metro sits. Gusts of 70 mph are common.

Behind the buildings, the players could see the fence.

"Our students, they think these guys are carrying knives. They say, 'Watch your back when you play them,'" Bennett said.

Having once faced Metro's junior varsity at home, Bennett knew to discount those warnings.

"The first time I played them it was really scary," he said. "I was expecting the worst. I thought they were murderers, stuff like that. I was surprised when they walked in. They had guards with them, they had to go with them everywhere, but they were nice to us. They might squabble with each other but when it comes to us they're always nice."

The night brought mixed results for Holy Family. After calling the atmosphere "a little intimidating" for his kids, junior varsity coach Steve Blair watched his team start strong but wilt late and crumble as Metro scored the final 16 points for a 51-45 victory.

In the next game, Holy Family's varsity passed crisply, hit three-pointers, pressed efficiently and boxed out. As the lead approached 20 points, Metro's players grew frustrated. They argued with one another as the fouls piled up but never stopped hustling.

The final score was 50-31.

"They don't give up, they play their hardest," Trujillo said. "There's no quit in them."

Then Holy Family was escorted across the darkened campus and out of the prison -- with a win, a loss, and impressions of another side of life.