Give Cameron Hershiser credit for his honesty.

As he prepares for his first supporting role in the annual Lawrence High-Free State basketball drama, the LHS senior could have stuck to the party line, extolling the virtues of all things red and black.

But, when it comes to the Hershiser family, blood is thicker than water. And sometimes, that means saying things that could get you in hot water with 1,500 or so of your closest friends.

“When I was younger, I hadn’t really thought much about high school, and I was just sitting behind the coaches’ bench, rooting for my dad,” said Hershiser, recalling the four years spent watching his dad, Craig, coach the Free State girls basketball team.

“I’m sure I rooted against Lawrence High a few times.”

As soon as the words rolled off his son’s tongue, the elder Hershiser winced and shook his head.

“You probably shouldn’t have said that,” Craig Hershiser said.

Lawrence High senior Cameron Hershiser, right, and his father, Craig, have overlapping ties to city basketball. Cameron leads the Lions with 6.7 rebounds per game; Craig was girls basketball coach at Free State from 1998 to 2002.

The latest installment of the 15th Street border war tips off Thursday night at LHS, with the varsity girls game slated for 6 p.m., followed by the varsity boys at 8. So what better storyline to examine than a case of family ties that touches upon both those battles?

The stage was set in the 1990s when, after six years as the head girls coach at Overland Park Aquinas, Craig Hershiser put down his whistle, put an end to his 60-mile daily commute and put down roots in his hometown as an English teacher at Free State.

Those plans changed just a couple of months into his new gig when, in the fall of 1998, the Firebirds needed a new girls coach.

Who better to turn to than a man responsible for four straight state-tournament appearances?

“I coached basketball for 20 years, either as an assistant or head coach. I felt like I’d done what I wanted to do,” Hershiser said. “It was all really just a matter of circumstance. I had no designs on coaching basketball when I came to Free State. But there was a need.”

He prowled the sidelines for four years, giving up his post following the 2001-02 season to spend more time with his wife, Marcia, who was finishing up work on her master’s degree; their daughter Megan, who was preparing for her senior year at LHS; and Cameron, a budding basketball player who was about to enter ninth grade.

“I felt there was more of a need for me to be a husband and parent than a basketball coach at that point,” said Hershiser, who now coaches the Firebirds’ girls golf team.

Not that the hoops tutelage ever stopped. Instead of sharing his insights and knowledge with a collection of Free State girls, Hershiser heaped them on one LHS boy.

“I think I had a real big advantage over other kids who didn’t have their dad as a coach, because he instilled in me the basketball fundamentals,” Cameron Hershiser said. “And not just the fundamentals, but the mental part of it, how to attack (the game).

“He’s always had some kind of good advice for me, not always telling me what to do but guiding me in the right direction and letting me figure it out for myself.”

A big part of that learning process was discovering the pride that bubbles to the surface in every athlete who has the chance to participate in the heated LHS-Free State rivalry.

Gone is that pre-teen who pulled for the Firebirds while standing by his father’s side, replaced by a 6-foot-2 forward who’s blossomed into the Lions’ leading rebounder with 6.7 boards per game while chipping in six points per night as a consummate role player in coach Chris Davis’ free-wheeling offense.

“It’s a game I’ve thought about playing in ever since I started high school,” said Hershiser, who spent most of his junior season on the LHS junior varsity after undergoing offseason knee surgery.

“Just the energy and the crowd and everything that goes on at the time – it just feels like it will be an amazing game to play in.”

Craig Hershiser also feels it will be an exciting game to watch.

“You just look at the history of the game, yeah, there have been some lopsided wins here or there,” Hershiser said. “But most of the games are tight, huge energy, great crowd support. I, for one, am pleased that he’ll get to experience that. … It’s a a unique experience to play in this game or coach in it. It’s one that will stick with you for a long, long time.”

While the Hershiser household now is firmly in the LHS basketball camp, Cameron admits he’ll likely have some good-natured ribbing for his old man should the Lions win Thursday. After all, what good are bragging rights if you can’t flaunt them at your nearest enemy?

“I’m sure I’ll poke fun at him and hold it over his head for a little while,” Cameron Hershiser said. “But not too big. You can’t think about one game for too long. You’ve always got another one coming up.”

Spoken like a true coach’s son.