Teen finds solace inside the lines

BADLY MISSED—Marita and Jerry Faulwell pose with son CJ during a family event in April 2008, just a few months before Jerry would lose his battle with cancer. CJ, a starting guard on Simi Valley High's boys' basketball team, has inspired teammates and coaches with his perseverance and commitment to the team. CJ Faulwell's story is a tale of pain and perseverance.

It was only six months ago when the Simi Valley High School junior had to bury his father, Jerry, who succumbed to cancer following a short battle with the disease.

"It's tough," said CJ, a member of the SVHS boys' varsity basketball team. "My dad, for all intents and purposes, was my best friend."

CJ has always been an outstanding student—his cumulative high school GPA is above 4.2.

But helping his mother, Marita, care for his ailing father and then assisting her following Jerry's death, forced CJ to transform from overachieving teenager to grown man well before his 17th birthday.

"He was very courageous," Marita said. "Jerry had a seizure, and he became disabled because of a brain lesion. He couldn't move around a lot, but CJ would just sit with him for hours."

Jerry had three children from a previous marriage—Heather, Jeff and Jenny—all of whom graduated from Simi High and now live outside the area. After she married Jerry, Marita survived breast cancer and, soon thereafter, a painful back ailment.

"My mom is a strong woman," CJ said. "She's been through a lot, and she always comes out on top. Obviously I have to be there for her, but she's been there for me, too. We've helped each other get through things."

At the outset of his father's illness, basketball became the teenager's escape from watching his father suffer.

"He used basketball as a distraction," Marita said. "Thank God for basketball."

In return, CJ has given much to Simi High's boys' basketball team.

Teammate Brad Lewis said the Pioneers have fed off CJ's workhardeverysecondyou'reonthecourt mentality since he arrived on the varsity squad last year.

It was important, Lewis said, for the team to attend Jerry's funeral in August as a show of respect and unity toward their teammate.

"It was a huge deal, what he had to go through," Lewis said. "He'd be there for us, and we wanted to be there to support him, to let him know that he had his friends there."

The entire team came to the funeral wearing polo shirts, Jerry's favorite attire, in a heartfelt gesture to the family.

"Jerry always wore his Simi Valley High polo shirt, even when he was sick coming to all the games," Marita said. "I never did get to see the players because I was in such a fog that day. But people still mention it to me, and they say it brings a tear to their eye to see the support they gave CJ."

Head coach Christian Aurand raves about the 6-foot-2, 180-pound junior, both as a person and as a hardworking player.

"There isn't a guy in our program, and I'm thinking back many years, who every single day brings it to the table," Aurand said. "CJ is a tremendous inspiration. He's a great leader, a great kid. He's a great student.

"Hopefully, one day when my son grows up, I'd be very proud if he ended up like CJ Faulwell. He's just tremendous."

Aurand has stories.

Following a defeat to Thousand Oaks, CJ sent a text message to his coach to apologize for not playing better. He promised to learn from the loss.

And at every practice CJ never fails to ask Aurand for advice on ways to help the team improve.

"It's totally genuine because he wants to improve; he wants to know; he wants that constructive criticism every day. I've never seen a player do that—never," Aurand said.

Opponents, of course, don't have such a favorable view of No. 32.

Simi Valley finished second in the Marmonte League this season thanks, in large part, to Faulwell's contributions.

Entering Thursday night's regular-season finale at Agoura, Faulwell was second on the Pioneers with 10.8 points per game, a number that jumps to 13.6 points in league competition.

His 60 percent fieldgoal shooting ranked in the top 16 on Simi's all-time single-season list.

"CJ has been an awesome player," said Lewis, the county's leading scorer. "He brings the emotion we need to every practice and every game."

Despite all of his success on the court this season, CJ's favorite moment at Simi Valley may have come last year, during the Pioneers' first-round playoff game against Servite.

His father was in attendance when his son, a postseason call-up from the junior varsity squad as a sophomore, got 30 seconds of playing time during a blowout Pioneer victory.

"That was special," CJ said. "It didn't seem special at the time, but when I look back at it now, it's a big deal."