Lumpkins puts Serra back on track

Stephen Lumpkins is 6-foot-9 and left-handed. He throws a baseball 86-89 miles per hour and attends Serra High School (San Mateo, Calif.), a baseball-crazy school that has produced major leaguers Jim Fregosi, Gregg Jefferies and Barry Bonds, among others.

But rather than a prep version of Randy Johnson, Lumpkins is a basketball star at Serra. He averages 21.2 points, 10.9 rebounds and three blocks per game for the Padres (14-9, 5-7).

"Stephen is an outstanding player who has the special ability to make his teammates better," Serra coach Chuck Rapp said via e-mail. "He can score down low with a variety of post moves, and this year he has been able to score from the perimeter. That's not to mention his greatest value to the team, and that's on the boards."

Saturday night Lumpkins helped the Padres to a 71-60 win over visiting St. Francis with 25 points and 17 rebounds. It was one of many outstanding outings by the senior, who scored 38 points, took 14 rebounds and had eight blocks in a win against Sacred Heart Cathedral and scored 31 points and had 17 rebounds in an earlier win against St. Francis.

Such efforts in a glittering prep career have not gone unrewarded. Prior to the season, Lumpkins committed to Division-I American University in Washington D.C. American spotted Lumpkins at a summer camp in Kansas and liked him. Lumpkins fancied American, too. After a couple of visits there, he made his decision.

Maybe it shouldn't be such a surprise that basketball is Lumpkins' sport. His father Larry Lumpkins was a 6-foot-7 two-year basketball starter at Northwestern in Chicago. The elder Lumpkins has aided his son physically and mentally during his high school years. In that time, the player Serrans call "Lumpy" has grown a full foot.

"He's taught me pretty much everything I've learned," Lumpkins said. "And if I get frustrated because teams are double- or triple-teaming me, he's always been there to help keep my confidence up."

As a team, Serra has struggled in league after starting with an impressive win over Sacred Heart. Prior to Saturday's victory over St. Francis, the Padres lost four consecutive games by four points or less.

However, Serra, buoyed by the likes of Lumpkins, forward Anthony DeCossio and sharpshooting Tom Leahy, appears to be back on track now. Serra hopes this win will be a springboard into the West Catholic Athletic League and Central Coast Section playoffs.

But what of baseball, where Lumpkins went 2-1 on the mound last season with a 1.75 earned run average and 23 strikeouts in 20 innings for the league co-champion Padres?

"American (University) doesn't have a baseball team," Lumpkins said. "But we'll have a good team this year (at Serra) and I'll just do what I can to help the team win."