Once unsure if he would walk again, Sustache now starring for Archies boys basketball

BRAINTREE – He jumped the passing lane, took two dribbles and – with the attention of a rowdy student section perched above the hoop solely on him – Julian Sustache was home free to score a soft, left-handed layup as the quarter-ending buzzer sounded.

The sophomore let out a celebratory roar and pumped his chest as he skipped back to the Archbishop Williams' bench.

There was a point in time Sustache could only dribble from a hospital chair. He's been eagerly awaiting moments like this.

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Sustache was born with scoliosis – a 105-degree curve in his spine, to be specific – and it only got worse as he grew older. At 13, he underwent life-threatening spinal fusion surgery to insert support rods and, during surgery, doctors alerted Sustache's parents that he had lost nerve signals, thus feeling in his lower body, and he was unable to move his legs.

When Sustache woke up from the surgery, he thought the loss of feeling was a side effect of medicine until his parents shared the news. After three weeks in the hospital, doctors advised physical therapy and after five days, with the rods successfully installed in his back, Sustache stood up again with the help of a doctor.

“That was pretty tough, I won’t lie," Sustache said after posting a season-high 18 points off the bench in Archbishop Williams' 80-62 win over Cardinal Spellman on Friday, one point shy of a game-best. "It was a great recovery, but there were a bunch of ups and downs. One of the podiatrists said I should look into adapted sports; they didn’t know if I would be able to walk again. I was only 13 years old, that took a toll on me. But it only sparked the fire, and I just kept going. It gave me more motivation.”

Upon walking on his own again, Sustache went from dribbling from a chair to polishing his ball-handing in stationary drills: “I was doing everything I could at the time. I was dying to get back out there,” he said.

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Sustache gauged that six months later, he was cleared to play again and though he wasn't as explosive as he once was, it didn't matter. He was back – only now with a supportive back brace to protect the rods' stability, a brace he still plays with to this day.

“It was starting all over again. Like being reborn. That’s pretty much how I see it,” Sustache said.

Sustache said that though he grew up with severe scoliosis, he never really felt pain. It was discovered surgery was needed when he was running a school race in seventh grade. As he approached the finish line, his heart began to hurt and he collapsed upon coming in first place.

While running sprints at AAU basketball practice the next day, his heart hurt again and Sustache went to the hospital to receive precautionary X-rays. Those came back with no concerns for his heart, but doctors noticed his worsening spinal curve and determined the spinal fluid surgery needed to be immediate.

“Those days, they were tough. I played with a bunch of AAU teams and I wasn’t able to play with them or travel with them," Sustache said. "I know for a fact that I can't fix what happened back then. I have to look to the future and do what I can do.”

“His story is incredible," head coach Brian Holden said. "I think what you’re seeing now is him getting stronger and getting in better basketball shape. And (Friday's performance) is a byproduct of that.”

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Sustache is from Boston, but moved to Easton and attended St. John Paul in the Lower Mills section of Dorchester before enrolling at Archbishop Williams for his freshman year. He now lives in Brockton.

The Bishops' youngest player, and one of two sophomores on the roster, Sustache is no ordinary spark-plug, back-up point guard. He also racked up 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals to accompany his 18 points.

“He’s worked at it. He’s into it," Holden said. "He plays year-round and his skills have developed throughout the course of the year.”

Sustache swerved down the lane and set up Josh Campbell wide open underneath to gift the senior high-flyer a two-handed jam, Campbell's first bucket since his nine-point first quarter, to put Archbishop Williams ahead 71-48 with 6:37 to play.

“I think he has a really bright future. He’s a great basketball player, very unselfish," Campbell, a senior forward, said of Sustache.

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Campbell, who had a 44-point outburst n a win over Weymouth on Jan. 18, finished with 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks on Friday.

Archbishop Williams, which improved to 12-0 with the win over Spellman, came into play ranked No. 1 in the MIAA's latest update of the Division 3 power rankings. Cardinal Spellman (8-4) was No. 3. Friday's finish hands the Bishops a sweep of the season series, as they came away with a 70-40 triumph as the visitor in the Cardinals' gym on Dec. 21, the team's second game of the season.

Said Holden, “I thought it was a great motivation for us to play our league rival here at home. ... It’s great to be 5-0 in the league but hopefully we’re working towards something bigger.”

“It feels great to go 12-0. I don’t think anyone was really expecting it" after the team's trip to the Division 3 Sweet 16 a season ago, said Campbell. "But we worked really hard before the season and conditioned ourselves. I think we earned it.”

Also for Archies, junior guard Tristan Rodriguez finished with 17 points and 3 assists, junior Andres Espaillat had 10 points and 3 assists and senior Charlie Conners had 9 points and 5 assists. Holden described the team's bench production as "incredible" throughout the team's 12-0 start, with all wins coming by a double-digit margin.

The young back-up point guard has something to do with it.

“It was a struggle coming back," said Sustache. "But I’m back.”

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Julian Sustache a remarkable comeback story for Archies boys hoops