With Tony Angelo, ‘There is no measuring his heart’

Tony Angelo rose above and beyond to help lead Central Catholic to the Oregon 6A basketball championship this season (courtesy Angelo family)

Tony Angelo will graduate with honors when the seniors at Central Catholic walk in June.

Because he has taken several Advanced Placement classes, Angelo’s cumulative grade-point average is 4.2. Angelo has received three B’s in his high school career.

So Tony qualifies as a scholar-athlete as he heads to California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Calif., where he will play basketball for the Division III Kingsmen next season.

But let’s not understate the athlete part of it.

Angelo was team captain and starting point guard as Central Catholic swept to the Class 6A basketball championship in March. It was the Rams’ first state title since 1994, and there were many key contributors, but none moreso than the 5-9 senior. He averaged only seven points per game, but his leadership skills were invaluable.

“Tony is always a leader,” teammate Marley Zeller says. “We call him ‘Mr. Energy.’ He impacts the game so much more than what you read on a stat sheet.”

“He is amazing,” adds another teammate, Miles Berry. “Most people try to become a leader, whereas Tony actually is one.”

“Tony was the glue for the team this year,” says former Rams star Gary Strachan, who served as a mentor to many of the players. “He is short like I was, but there is no measuring his heart. Tony’s heart was maybe bigger than anyone in the state’s.”

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The Angelos: From left, Tony, Molly, Aaron, Brady and Joey (courtesy Angelo family)

Tony is the middle of three sons of Aaron and Molly Angelo. Older brother Joey is a sophomore at Gonzaga. Younger brother Brady is a junior at Seton Catholic in Vancouver.

Their parents were athletes. Aaron was a starting point guard at Central Catholic who, like Tony, wore No. 10. Molly Comer was an all-state soccer player at Beaverton High. They started Tony in sports when he was knee-high to a grasshopper.

“Ever since I remember, they had me playing basketball and soccer,” Tony says. “They were huge on sports.”

Tony excelled at the youth level in both sports and played high-level club soccer as a freshman, “but that was it,” he says. “I didn’t love soccer as much as I love basketball. I knew if I wanted to play varsity basketball at Central Catholic, I needed to focus on that sport.”

The Angelos live in Vancouver, Wash. The neighborhood high school would be either Fort Vancouver or Hudson’s Bay. There were a few factors involved in the decision to send Tony to Central Catholic. His father, grandfather, aunts and brother all went there. “It’s in the family blood,” Tony says.

He had attended St. Joseph’s Elementary in Vancouver, “and I wanted to continue my Catholic education,” he says.

Another plus for Central Catholic: “They have a good basketball team.”

Angelo’s freshman season was basically lost because of Covid and a back injury. He made varsity as a sophomore and early in the season broke into the starting lineup. The Rams were undefeated in Mount Hood Conference play but lost to Mountainside in the second round of the state playoffs.

Named a team captain by coach David Blue before his junior season, Angelo was a starter through the first month. But Blue took him out of the starting lineup at the Les Schwab Invitational and brought him off the bench for awhile.

“From there,” Tony says, “my confidence went downhill fast. I had a bad seven or eight games.”

In time, Angelo’s play improved and he returned to the starting five. With just one senior, Central finished third in the Mount Hood Conference but advanced to the state quarterfinals.

The 2023-24 Rams entered the season as favorites to win it all. Angelo, Zeller and Berry joined with Oregon-bound junior Isaac Carr and the Paschal brothers, 6-5 junior Duce and 5-10 sophomore Zamir, to lead the way. Tony, with Zeller joining him as team captains, found himself in a familiar but uncomfortable situation.

“Our team was really talented,” he says. “I knew there was a chance I wouldn’t start. Last year, coming off the bench affected my play. This year, it didn’t at all. Whenever I played, it didn’t change how I played.”

Angelo opened the season as a starter, then came off the bench for roughly the same stretch he had the previous campaign. Blue gave him a starting role back midway through the season, and Tony held onto it the rest of the way.

“Tony had a great year for us,” says Blue, Central Catholic’s head coach the past nine seasons. “He was an incredible leader. A person for others. Selfless. In these times when it is all about starting or shots or points or minutes, his only thing was what was best for the team.”

Blue says he had a couple of discussions with Angelo about his role in each of the last two seasons.

“I know he has been frustrated at times,” the coach says. “Last year, he was really upset (when he lost his starting job). We talked through all of that. As a head coach, you have to be honest. My perspective is always going to be different than players or parents.

“This year, he was more mature in how he received (going from starter to sixth man). In comparison to other guys, he didn’t handle it too badly to hurt the team, or had a bad attitude. He is not the type of person who is going to check out or be mean to his teammates or disengage.

“This year, he had a great perspective. He knew we were very talented. There comes a time when you start understanding what’s important and what isn’t and how you can add value. He added value every day. And he got his starting spot back.”

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Central to that was Strachan, a guard for Central Catholic in the late ‘60s who would go on to a stellar career at the University of Portland. Now semi-retired, Strachan says he is working on a project with Central dealing with helping students with substance abuse and addiction.

“Drugs and alcohol took me to the bottom in 1995,” Strachan says. “I got clean and sober. I’m in my 30th year of recovery.”

Over the last four or five years, Blue has given Strachan access to his players. Strachan has addressed them in a preseason talk and counseled some of them through the season. Much of the communication was through text messages. He says he started with Angelo, Berry and Zeller, then added the Paschals and two others this season.

“Throughout the season, I have sent them messages based on leadership, and the focus has been just using mindfulness,” Strachan says. “I have talked about breathing, so your thinking and your feelings are balanced. Too much thinking gets you in trouble. Too much feelings and emotions get you in trouble.

“My big deal is trying to get these kids to learn some things I didn’t learn when I was in high school. Basketball is a stepping stone to life. Every decision in life is like those in basketball, so make the right decision now, and don’t make two mistakes in a row. Don’t commit a turnover and then a foul trying to get the ball back.”

Of all the players, “Tony was the guy who caught on the most,” Strachan says. “Tony really took to it.”

An example is this text dated Jan. 20, 2023:

“Tony, welcome back. Hope you iced after the game. Great effort and I HEAR your voice! Great leadership from your end. … You penetrated twice and had easy shots in the key that you passed up to keep others involved. But taking those shots are important for the team and to the opponent and anyone scouting you guys for making yourself a threat. Don’t be too unselfish!

“Be mindful. Do NOT take plays off and remind your teammates to NOT take plays off! I saw several instances where guys jogged back on D (and) just followed the play. Don’t allow them to do that.

“When Bam got his third foul late in the second quarter and Blue left him in, did you tell him he had three and do NOT get your fourth before half? He got his fourth 20 seconds later. That’s not winning basketball, and it will certainly be detrimental vs. a Barlow, Gresham or any other good team. Chew his butt out and tell him that hurts the team (with kind and loving words). That’s leadership AND emotional intelligence!

“Get some rest! Good, solid game overall and your voice is being heard.”

“Gary is probably my biggest mentor,” Angelo says. “He is perceptive — good at reading people, their skills and what they need to work on. After every game, we would talk. He was telling me how important my leadership was and how I needed to pour that into the team. He was about mindfulness, being in the moment, not getting overstressed.

“He was a guy I could lean on when things weren’t going great — a super wise man. I’m grateful for him. I wouldn’t be the leader or player I am if not for Gary. He made me a lot smarter as a leader and as a teammate. And it wasn’t just me — his impact on our team was huge.”

Though they had their moments, Angelo and Blue wound up having a strong relationship, too.

“I loved playing for him,” Tony says. “He does a good job of knowing his team every year. Each team is different. This year, he used different players’ skills and understood who has advantages at certain positions. He put our stars in position to do what they do best. He was straight up with players, whether it was about playing time or what you needed to do better. You built a closer relationship with him that way. He had a good relationship with everybody on the team.

“Being able to play for him was special. He did what he could to help me get a chance to play at the next level. He cares about me a lot. He does a lot of things that nobody sees. He is a mentor and a friend besides being a coach. It’s more than basketball with Coach Blue.”

Basketball was what brought them together, though, and Blue came away with respect for Angelo’s game.

“He was fierce, competitive, gritty,” the veteran coach says. “He was a leader on the floor. He was uber-competitive but was able to stay composed for the most part. We wanted him in there at the end of a close game to handle pressure and make good decisions.

“Tony was an important defensive player for us, frustrating the other team’s post guard, but he was also a better offensive player than people know. He could knock down the 3, and he was crafty in the paint, finding his teammates. I considered that young man an impact player. Not just a good kid — he could play.”

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It was a banner season right from the start for Central Catholic, which ended with a 27-3 record. The Rams were perfect against state-of-Oregon competition, losing only early-season games to De La Salle of Concord, Calif., (57-56), Columbus of Miami (92-73) and Perry of Gilbert, Ariz. (90-80).

Central crushed arch-rival Jesuit 59-33 in the state quarterfinals, during which Joshua Zeller (Marley’s father) shot video that he used for an interview with Tony.

The Rams knocked off defending champion Tualatin 73-67 in the semis, setting up a finals matchup with Roosevelt. The Roughriders jumped to a 13-point lead and were in front 43-36 at the half. Central rebounded by outscoring its foe 30-8 in the third quarter en route to an 85-76 victory.

From left, seniors Marley Zeller, Tony Angelo, Miles Berry and Andrew Coiner go out in style (courtesy Angelo family)

Angelo finished the game with eight points on 3-for-5 shooting. He made his only 3-point attempt — a third-quarter buzzer-beater that had the Central students going bananas — and was 1 for 2 at the free throw line. He had three rebounds, no assists and no turnovers in 20 minutes. His floor leadership, as always, was a plus in a game where poise was at a premium.

“I’m a pretty smart basketball player,” he says. “Not the most skilled, but good at communicating.”

Six weeks later, Tony says winning the championship “hasn’t fully kicked in yet.”

This is what winning a state title feels like (courtesy Angelo family)

“I couldn’t have gone out a better way,” he says. “There was a lot of hype around our team, but I felt people still doubted us. We had a long way to go coming from last year. We told ourselves we had a real shot if we locked in, put our egos aside and played as a team.

“Coach Blue did a great job of building camaraderie and selflessness. The more we won, the more we leaned on each other and poured into each other. It’s crazy to think I was a big piece into winning the state championship. I feel like I was a super big part of that.”

Blue says Angelo averaged four assists and 1.5 steals with a 3.4 assist/turnover ratio, shooting 58 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the foul line. He was an honorable mention all-conference selection.

The state championship was the ultimate goal. Every player on the roster shared in it and deserves credit for his contribution, Angelo says.

Tony Angelo (10) and Coach David Blue hoist the state championship plaque (courtesy Angelo family)

“I think highly of all of my teammates,” he says. “We never had any cliques or reason to dislike each other. Everyone got along. Being able to be basically the same team for two years in a row and getting used to each other was important. Everyone was super selfless. We never had any issues of somebody trying to be the guy. As we continued to win, everyone bought into the culture Coach Blue had created.”

Angelo earned the respect of those who played with him. Zeller and Berry both call him “one of my best friends.” Both loved to have him on their side.

“Tony was a great teammate, one of the best I’ve had,” says Zeller, bound for Loyola Marymount next season. “He can be super funny, but can also lock in when the time comes. He is always a leader. Whenever we were joking around too much, he would keep us in check.

“He never missed a practice. He is a lockdown defender, a great passer, and a knock-down shooter. Super quick, shifty with very good handles. Has a good mid-range pull-up. Very hard to guard.”

Berry and Angelo played together for three years, including on the summer AAU circuit.

“I think super highly of Tony,” Berry says. “He was our vocal leader last season. His humility was refreshing. He was still a leader even when things weren’t going his way. He got to practice early, was always in a good mood and did what he could to keep us together. He was a big reason why we were a very cohesive group this season.”

Berry has something to add.

“Out of all my friends, Tony is the most focused on his future,” he says. “He is super religious. Morally, he is one of the best people I know. His whole family is that way. And he was one of the only people on the team to check in with people to see how they’re doing.”

Angelo says he has had a spiritual transformation the last year and a half.

“I realize now that it’s not basketball that gives me purpose, but God and Jesus Christ,” he says. “It’s not all about me. I used to be self-centered and always worried about me and how others perceive me. The more I turned to God and let him work through me, is when I started to play my best.

“Basketball is what I do, but it’s not who I am. That takes a lot of pressure off. It gives me a sense of freedom and peace. I’m here for a bigger reason. It’s a way for me to use my gifts to glorify God.”

Blue calls Angelo “a plus human being.”

“At our school, if someone needed anything, he was there to pick it up,” the coach says. “He would be the first person to volunteer to clean up a cafeteria or put something away. If he sees someone who needs help, he is there. He is God-fearing and spiritual, which is important in our (Central Catholic) community. He is not ashamed of it, which I respect. The people around him respect that as well, especially with so much coming at students these days. He is proud of it and lives and walks by faith.

“He is of high character. They don’t make them like Tony too often as a person.”

Through his young life, Angelo has found basketball can be healing, too. During the Covid times, he experienced depression.

“When I was injured, I wasn’t able to play for seven months,” he says. “Basketball was my identity. Without it, I was depressed. I was pretty far from God at that point. It was a rough time. I talked with my parents, which was helpful, but once I started playing again, that’s when I got better.”

The Central Catholic community, Angelo says, “has been great to me, with love and support. They were a huge part in making my high school career special.”

The biggest thanks, of course, go to his parents.

“They love me so much,” he says. “They have poured so much into me, always been there for me, sacrificed a lot, created a lot of time for me.”

His mother admired how Tony has handled the lows of his career, especially when he was in and out of the lineup.

“That was tough on ’T’ to go through that, but he knew the coaching staff had confidence in him even though he wasn’t starting,” Molly Angelo says. “They were good about communication when those changes were happening. He didn’t feel out of it. It was an opportunity for others to play, and his mentality was, ‘I’m going to keep grinding and get my spot back.’ I was proud of him for his resiliency and finishing his career strong.”

Aaron Angelo had a special relationship with his coach at Central, Steve Halligan. He is glad his son went out on good terms with his coach, too.

“I was super proud of Tony,” his father says. “The way he handled adversity and perseverance through his experience with basketball? I’m most proud of that. There was a lot of talent in the program. There were certain times where he was in and out of the lineup. He made that a positive. As a parent, that’s a trait I’m grateful for. Those are the kind of things that will take him far in life.

“Tony played so selflessly. That was a wonderful thing to see. Basketball is a beautiful game when you play like that.”

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Next step is college. Cal Lutheran finished 23-5 and No. 21 in the Division III ranks last season. The Kingsmen were 23-3 and ranked among the nation’s top 10 before losing to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in their conference tournament final and then to Whitworth in the first round of the national tournament.

The Angelos took a couple of visits to Thousand Oaks and came away impressed, especially with head coach Russell White and lead assistant Kyle Milligan.

“The school and program check all the boxes for me,” Tony says. “The first thing is the coaches and how well they recruited me and cared about me and had good communication and honesty. They valued my character and who I am off the court. It’s a very team-oriented program. The guys spend a lot of time together off the court.

“They have a good sports management and sports exercise program. You can make a lot of connections in California. I wanted to go somewhere warm, and the basketball program is great.”

Milligan is a Portland native who played at Jesuit High. He has a relationship with Blue, who recommended Angelo.

“I reached out to a number of schools,” Blue says. “Everyone liked Tony, but in basketball, size and athleticism is so important. He battled against that. But Cal Lutheran wanted a point guard in their recruiting class. (Milligan) followed us in summer tournaments and (Kingsmen coaches) liked what they saw. It’s nothing I did. I advocated for him, but it’s his play and the person he is that got him noticed.”

Cal Lutheran had a 20-man roster last season. Coaches told Angelo there are nine guards returning.

“I’m probably not going to play next season,” he says. “I’m fine with that. It’s a good situation to come into. I will be able to learn a lot from the (returning) guards.

“After that, things will open up and they will need me to play big minutes by my sophomore year. I’ll try to soak in all the information I can this next year. They also have a ‘D-League’ (junior varsity) team, so I’ll be able to play in some games.”

Those who know Tony best are optimistic that he will at some point experience success at Cal Lutheran. His history dictates that.

“He is going to have that opportunity,” his father says. “Tony has responded every single time through adversity and competition. He has always had a calm confidence. He is dialed in. Tony will have that same confidence and experience at Cal Lu. They have a great coaching staff that will match his intensity and passion for the game.”

“We were impressed with the coaches and their program and how diligent they are with recruiting,” his mother says. “Russell White played for Cal Lutheran, but didn’t play much. He is a great example for Tony to see what can happen in college. You can get a great experience out of it even if you are a role player. That takes a little pressure off.

“I think he will play a lot eventually. He needs to get more physical and stronger. It will be good for him to have time to work on that. Tony connects with the coaches and likes them a lot, and their players, too. It’s a good fit for him.”

Next season, Zeller will be playing at Loyola Marymount. Berry will be attending, but not playing basketball, at Cal Santa Barbara. All three will be in college in the same state, keeping track of the others. Zeller and Berry are looking for their former teammate to be a success story with his new team.

“I expect big things,” Berry says. “Tony will redefine his role as their needs dictate, but he is going to have a good time in college.”

“Tony is going to have an impact at some point,” Zeller says. “He is short and under-recruited, but any college team would be lucky to have him. I don’t think Cal Lutheran knows what it’s getting.”

Blue pauses when I ask him how Angelo will fare in Thousand Oaks.

“One of our mantras this season was ‘find a way,’ ” he says. “Tony is going to find a way to compete and earn minutes over his time there. It’s a lot different at the D-3 level. You come in and work while you wait, and when your opportunity comes, you have to be ready.

“As a freshman and sophomore, you are working and learning. As you get to be a junior and senior, you get to be the guy. If he sticks with it and works his tail off, he is going to impact the basketball program in some capacity. He is going to earn minutes.”

Meanwhile, Central Catholic will gear up to defend its state title in 2025. The Rams have plenty of talent returning, but they will be without the engine that made them go this season.

“What Tony brought to them are the intangibles,” Gary Strachan says. “You can’t measure intangibles. If they find another kid who brings what he brought to them, well … they are really going to be special.”

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