Inspired by mother’s battle with cancer, Belen Jesuit guard thriving on basketball court

In that moment, basketball standout Javi Rosell ignored God.

Even though Rosell attends a Catholic school – Belen Jesuit – he no longer felt like paying attention in theology class.

His mother, Cristy Rosell, had just been diagnosed with stage 4 non-small-cell lung cancer – a disease without a cure. More people die from lung cancer than any other form of the disease.

“I went to a dark place,” Rosell said of his reaction when his family gave him the news about his mother, who is a non-smoker. “I ignored that God even existed.

“To this day, it was the most shocking news I’ve ever received. I was devastated. I was broken for a long while.”

Almost two years since that diagnosis, Cristy Rosell is still alive and doing relatively well. Rosell, 53, goes to almost all of her son’s games.

“She’s always the loudest fan in the gym,” said Javi Rosell, whose faith in God has been restored. “She will yell biased stuff like, ‘Ref, how is that not a foul?’”

Cristy is so unabashedly loud that her husband of 30 years, Teo, has to sit in another part of the gym.

Rosell, the youngest of their four children, has come a long way since his parents sat him down in their kitchen to tell him about Cristy’s cancer.

A phenomenal student with a 4.5 weighted grade-point average, Rosell is interested in studying Finance. But because of his lack of ideal size for basketball – he is a 5-10 point guard – Rosell has no scholarship offers from Division I or II.

So far, only Maryville College, which is a Division III school in Tennessee, has offered Rosell a scholarship.

Belen coach Gaston “Chachi” Rodriguez said Rosell deserves better.

“Javi is one of the best passers I’ve coached in my 34 years in the game,” Rodriguez said. “He sees the play two passes ahead.

“He’s tough as nails. He’s that hard-nosed guy who won’t quit -- an amazing leader with great vision, and he’s a winner.”

Rosell, a third-year Belen starter, showed many of those qualities last season when he led the Wolverines to the regional semifinals, where they lost to eventual state champion Stranahan. In the district final, Rosell scored a career-high 24 points, adding seven assists and six rebounds in a 64-50 win over Northwestern.

That was Belen’s first district championship in 17 years.

This season, Belen (17-4) is ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 5A. The Wolverines are led again by Rosell, who is averaging 14.6 points, 7.0 assists and 6.1 rebounds. He has had some monster performances, including a career-high 13 assists and 13 points on Dec. 13 in a 73-58 win over Archbishop McCarthy.

But it’s not just Rosell.

Belen has a core group of seven seniors that also includes Dillon Diaz; Kevin Garcia; Joshua Perez; Alejandro Lopez; Ryan Cuellar; and Nicolas Portuondo.

“We’re an old team,” Rosell said.

Fortunately, Cristy is still strong enough to attend the games to watch this “old” and talented squad, led by Rosell.

“Every day I get to watch him play is a blessing,” Cristy said of her son. “I’m thankful I get to watch him do what he loves, and he does it well.”

Remarkably, Cristy still goes to work -- she teaches seventh- and eighth-grade religion at Epiphany Catholic.

Her students know about her cancer, and she has the full support of those kids as well as her entire school/community.

“I’m standing on the grace of prayers,” Cristy said. “I’m grateful to my doctors. I know lung cancer is serious.

“But, every day, there are new treatments and discoveries. My doctors are focused on extending life.”

Javi Rosell said his mother’s positive outlook has changed him.

“We have a rosary for her every week,” Rosell said of his mother.

“She’s an angel in my eyes and in the eyes of everyone who has met her.”