b'IN THE SPIRITOF THE GAMESix Marianist-sponsored high schools met in Ohio for the first Marianist Classic basketball tournamentan exercise in building Family Spirit.By John SchroederA to saunter into the neighborhood and call floated the notion of a basketball showcase called thell it took was for the new kid on the blockMarianist Classic.game. Thats basically how a new basket- To Tom, president of St. Vincent-St. Mary Highball tradition took shape among six Marianist-sponsored School (STVM) in Akron, Ohio, the whole idea seemedhigh schools this past December. to fit like a new pair of Nikes. The formerly independ-OK, so maybe a few hundred details had to be ent Catholic high school had joined the Marianistworked out, toolike coordinating athletic depart- network of sponsored schools in 2017. At a nationalment schedules, arranging tourney sponsors and meeting of Marianist school administrators thatplanning team travel and lodging. But those pesky same year, Tom hatched the plan.logistics turned out to be nothing more than small I basically said, hey, you all have good basketballspeed bumps for school leaders once Tom Carone programsand you know how good ours is, TomALL PHOTOS: SCOTT GOLDSMITH16 Call 1.800.348.4732'