THE HECK with dribbling, shooting, passing and defending.
For Shep Garner, Roman Catholic High's newest basketball sensation, the most challenging task is trying to keep a straight face right before the games begin. When Roman is the home team, that is.
Garner's mother, Kim, is a professional singer (fronts one band; has another of her own) and . . . hey, there she is, impeccably dressed, standing right in front of the scorers' table, belting out the national anthem.
"I'm laughing on the inside, but I can't let it show," said the personable Garner, a 6-2, 190-pound sophomore point guard. "You know how it goes. When your mom's singing the national anthem and you're on the team, you're going to get kidded about it. When I'm standing there, I'm thinking about what my teammates are thinking, which I just know is funny stuff.
"Around the gym, a lot of people don't know what's up. But then you can tell that the word's spreading. 'That's Shep Garner's mom.' I like to look around and check out the people looking at her. The whole thing's pretty interesting."
He then added, "She used to sing the national anthem at Chester High's games . . . She doesn't do that anymore."
The reason: Garner lives in Chester, maybe a half-dozen blocks from the school, and the community is not exactly thrilled that he opted for another school.
Yesterday, with some of the student rooters calling him "Shep Wayns" (star Villanova guard Maalik Wayns is a Roman product), Garner tallied 10 points, seven assists and five steals as the Cahillites bested Bishop McDevitt, 66-58, in a Catholic League opener.
Then, he had to answer two major questions: Why didn't opt for Chester, which, like Roman, boasts a first-magnitude hoops pedigree? And, how often is he asked to transfer back?
"Coming here wasn't that hard of a decision," said Garner, whose given first name is Shepard. "Chester has a great, great basketball tradition, a lot of tremendous history, but there's more to life than basketball. As everyone knows, there are some problems going on in Chester educationwise; I just didn't feel it was the right school for me."
As for No. 2 . . .
"I can't walk out of the house without people asking me, 'Why don't you come back to Chester?' I especially get that from the people in maybe their 40s and 50s, the big-time Chester basketball fans. Among people closer to my age, that talk has kind of dwindled. They know I love it at Roman, and that this is my school.
