Daniel Maher is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Saint Mary's Catholic for AZPreps365.com

Basketball roots run deep at Saint Mary’s. Coach Damin Lopez and senior point guard Keiren Brown, who have led the Knights to a 7-0 record in the 4A Skyline section and are 14-1 overall, are exhibits A and B.

    David Lopez, the father of Damin, was the Knights head coach for 18 years and a teacher for 20. David was an integral part of the program and helped lead the Knights to two state championships and reached the state semifinals four years in a row from 2004-2007. Damin was also a part of the journey. He was the top assistant coach from 1996-2008. 

    “Saint Mary’s at 103 years old has had many people that have contributed to the legacy of this institution, and my family has been able to be one of those families to contribute to this constitution,” said Lopez. 

    Lopez said it was “natural for him to return, we bleed green.” 

    Since there have been a few coaches between the years of his father's tenure and Lopez’s position now, Lopez does not view his role as one of trying to be better than his father or follow in his dad's footsteps. Instead, Lopez wants to continue the legacy of Saint Mary’s. 

    “We love what my dad did before in terms of adding to the legacy of Saint Mary’s, and I’m just hopeful that we can continue to add more into it,” said Lopez. “What I care about is that our program continues to get better, and the school continues to trend upwards.”

    The school has continued to trend in the right direction. Lopez’s program has been built upon family, toughness, and togetherness. Lopez preaches these core values every day and hopes every player has these instilled with them by the time they leave the gym senior year. 

    No player may embody these values more than Keiren Brown. Brown was a freshman when Lopez took over the program, and last season as a junior was named 1st Team All Arizona and Player of the Year Skyline Region. 

    “His leadership has been unbelievable in terms of developing those core pillars. He continues to pass those on to the younger guys today,” said Lopez. 

    Brown is currently ranked eighth in the Arizona state rankings. His basketball roots also run deep in Arizona. His father, Keitrick Brown, played guard for Central Arizona College in 1996 and '97. Brown is also the nephew of Gerald Brown, the former Pepperdine star and Phoenix Suns' guard. 

    Brown averaged 15 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists his junior year. He also put up 31 points in the state semifinals. 

    Brown's development as a player on and off the court is one example of the system Lopez has implemented. Lopez strives for player development; his goal is not just to win but to develop these young students and athletes throughout this journey. 

    “There are two things we aim to do every year. The first is to make these kids better people, and if we can accomplish formation through sports and athletics, teach them how to handle adversity, teach them teamwork, discipline that is the first thing we really care about,” said Lopez. “The second thing after that is player development; we want our kids to get better. Those two things are first and foremost in our program. After that, we can worry about winning games and winning state titles.” 

 The Knights are a problem on both ends of the court for opposing teams. 

    “The key to our success has been a lot of patience,” said Lopez. “I think our kids have worked really hard, they have maintained extreme focus in terms of chasing the end result, and we have literally been taking this season on a day-to-day basis.” 

    Lopez is now in his fourth season as the Knights head coach and has brought success with him every step of the way. Last season the Knights finished top of the Skyline Division with a record 24-4.