Ball Boy Not Throwing in Towel on Idol

He was near tears after the game, but managed not to cry. The last thing the players needed, he figured, was to see their ball boy bawling like a baby. Besides, all the crying in the world wouldn’t change things--Santa Margarita had won. Sonora’s season was over. He would have to accept it like everyone else.

Few 11-year-olds lose sleep over a high school basketball game, but Chris Eyles tossed and turned Friday night after Sonora’s 65-60 loss in the Division III-AA quarterfinals. It wasn’t so much that Santa Margarita dominated inside, or swished in point after point from the free-throw line. If anything haunted Eyles in his sleep, it was the simple fact that he no longer will be handing water, towels or basketballs to Chris St. Clair.

You know St. Clair, point guard extraordinaire. He’s the Sonora senior with the elfish expression, the kid with a thousand moves. He’s the player who’s more fun to watch than “The Player.” He scored 33 points against Santa Margarita Friday night, despite being double- and triple-teamed. He is a major box-score star.

But now St. Clair’s high school career is over, and no one is more disappointed than Eyles, a Brea sixth-grader who gets straight A’s, is an ace at “Wheel of Fortune” and is grown up enough to have asked for clothes and cologne for Christmas, yet is still more than happy to greet his dad in public with a big hug and a kiss.

It isn’t easy being a kid these days, even in Orange County. Tragic things happen--in schools, on streets--no matter the neighborhood, And heroes, it seems, are in short supply. Eyles says, outside his parents, he doesn’t really have many role models. Magic Johnson’s retired, and Michael Jordan was once a big favorite, he says, “but when they caught him gambling, I said, ‘Forget you, Michael Jordan!’ ”

As for the Angels? Don’t even get Eyles started.

“The Angels? I hate them now! They traded Jim Abbott! They gave away Bert Blyleven! They say they have a plan. I say, ‘A plan? Yeah, right . . . !’ ”

But ask Eyles about St. Clair and his eyes grow wide. Saint, as Eyles calls him, is the greatest high school basketball player who ever lived, he says. At least the best he’s ever seen, and he’s seen, well, a few. Eyles can describe St. Clair’s every move, every dribble, every fake. He can tell you how St. Clair moves his feet, holds his arms and pushes out his chest--just so--when he’s clinging to you on defense.

Eyles can tell you this because he does the same. Or at least he tried. St. Clair has taught him all the tricks, he says. And the Brea Bulldogs, Eyles’ youth basketball team, is the better for it. The emulation doesn’t stop there. When Eyles saw St. Clair’s new hairstyle earlier this season, he begged his mom until she took him to get the same. When Eyles’ coach told him there was no jersey No. 24 (St. Clair’s number), Eyles told him he wanted the next closest number and was given 18. (A teammate later was given No. 20; Eyles says he had no choice but to throw a tantrum in protest).

Eyles doesn’t have an older sibling; St. Clair doesn’t have a younger one. They are each, they say, the brother for which they always wished. They met last summer at a local discount department store. Eyles and his mother were on their routine Sunday shopping stop. He spotted St. Clair working behind the check-out line. They started to chat--about basketball, baseball, school and life.

That was 32 Sundays ago. Eyles hasn’t missed a single Sunday shopping trip since. “The Earth would have to stop first,” Eyles’ father, George, says.

The Earth didn’t stop, but St. Clair quit last week. Eyles says he’s sad.

“I thought someday we could work there together,” he says.

So now the season’s over, and the Sunday shopping stops are, too. Eyles says he has other things to do--he’s got magazine subscriptions to sell for school, baseball season is on its way, and there’s always homework to keep up on.

Plus, he’s still working on getting St. Clair that Division I scholarship. He’s sent 14 letters to college coaches around the country. Last week, he received a hand-written note from San Jose State Coach Stan Morrison, thanking him for the information. During a Sonora practice last week, he sat with an assistant coach from Southern California College, who had come to watch center Chris Campbell. Eyles made sure he was watching another Chris, too.

“I talk to all the scouts,” he says. “I fill them in on Saint. I’ve got to let them know what they’re missing.”

But it’s Eyles who’s already missing him. The season’s over, and today will be the first Sunday in eight months he won’t be able to visit St. Clair at his check-out stand. But St. Clair has promised to start attending Eyles’ basketball games, which he could never see before because of his work schedule.

“I think Saint will show up,” Eyles says. “At least he said he would.”

Hope so. Eyles’ team could probably use a good ball boy.

Barbie Ludovise’s column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Ludovise by writing her at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, 92626, or by calling (714) 966-5847.