According to St. Mary's Catholic School Principal Maria Farney, she cannot recall a sanctioned basketball played on their home court since the early 1990s when the school reopened.
But over three decades later, the dream of opening up the gym and hosting a 7th-grade game became a reality when the St. Mary's Saints welcomed in the St. Ignace Saints this past Saturday.
St. Mary's players received new jerseys prior to the big day. In addition to the jerseys, the players got to run on a new floor and use the new scoreboard that came from Bay Mills Community College. Farney said the old scoreboard was brought back to life thanks to Paul Weber and Mike Heyboer.
Josh Rader, and his son, Hadyn were the referees.
"This the first time for me in this gym. It has a great atmosphere. It has to be exciting for the players because it's such an old school. The gym has that vibe to it with the bleachers above the floor behind the basket. It's kinda neat," Josh said.
Farney was excited to open the doors and welcome everyone in.
"We had an old floor that had a lot of dead spots and in around 2015 we got this new gym floor and we got the new/used scoreboard. We feel we were prepared for this game. The way the fans, coaches, parents and the community worked together was wonderful. We feel that God had a hand in making this all come together for the kids to come together and get out there and play," Farney said.
Tracey Laitinen has a son, Danny, who plays on the team.
"He's super excited to be out there and that St. Mary's actually got a team this year. The stands are packed today with our fans and fans from St. Ignace so it's fun to see. All the priests and teachers are here supporting the team," Laitinen said.
The game lasted about 1:15 with the St. Ignace Saints winning 67-33.
Farney issued this statement on the history of St. Mary's Catholic School:
All Catholic Schools in Sault Ste. Marie, to include St. Mary's (K-8) and Loretto (High School) were closed in 1971 as a result of the passing of Proposal C on the Michigan's November election ballot, which changed the Michigan constitution to restrict any direct or indirect aid to religious schools,
St. Mary's School reopened its doors in 1993 as an elementary school and then added additional gradesIt is now a PreK-8th grade school and has been in operation continuously since 1993.
When the school reopened, the gym windows were boarded up. They were the original wooden windows since the school was built in 1937. They were single panes and drafty and many were broken. A capital campaign in 2001 helped the school buy replacement windows. We purposely ordered replacement windows the same size and style of the original windows, but this time made of vinyl frames and with insulation value within the glass panes.
The old gym floor also needed to be replaced and in 2015 the friends of Frank Fazi designated the memorial of his passing towards buying a new floor at St. Mary's School. Frank Fazi, an accomplished businessman in Sault Ste. Marie and an inductee into the UP Sports Hall of Fame, had first started playing basketball at St. Mary's School and credited his love of the sport to his elementary school. Here is part of his obituary:
"Frank began his employment at Sault Savings Bank as a teller in 1954. He has been a past President of the Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce, President of the Sault Ste. Marie Country Club and President of the Hudson Foundation.
"He also served as Chairman of the Chippewa County Building Authority and was a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Building Authority, and the LSSU Foundation Board of Directors.
"Frank enjoyed golfing and was a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Country Club, as well as the Christopher Columbus Society, Elks Lodge and St. Joseph's Catholic Church. He was a member of the UP Sports Hall of Fame Council and held membership on the Community Services Board, LSSU Athletic Board, and retired as Executive Vice President of FMB Sault Bank in December of 1995.
"Frank was also a member of the St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Frank was very sports-oriented in his life and was selected All-State Basketball in 1951, he was the leading scorer in all of his four years of High School and was voted Most Valuable Player three years running. Frank was selected all Conference both years he spent at MTU as well as voted Most Valuable Player both years with an average of 20 points per game. He held the team record for two years with 34 wins and 4 losses.
"He was a player, Coach and Manager of Baseball and Softball teams at all levels, he was even offered a pro-baseball contract once and was able to hit a home run at Tiger Stadium. He held the title of Outstanding Bowler in the area from 1955 to 1980, with the Highest League Average honor for three years and bowled a 300 game.
"Other athletic highlights include recording a Hole-in-One at the Sault Country Club; he was named to the LSSU Hall of Fame in 1995 and was a member of the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame."
