McConnell Serio named top Quad-A coach
Suzie McConnell Serio went out in style. For Mike Kopp, the winning just went on. McConnell Serio and Kopp ended the season in Hershey by winning PIAA girls basketball championships, and each has been selected as a coach of the year in statewide voting for The Associated Press.
Oakland Catholic’s McConnell Serio, who is leaving the high school ranks to become coach of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, was the choice in Class AAAA over her former Penn State teammate, Bethany Irwin of State College, and Downingtown’s Bob Schnure. Balloting was done by sports writers and broadcasters.
Kopp won in Class AAA over Punxsutawney’s Randy Reitz after guiding Allentown Central Catholic to a third consecutive state championship.
Also chosen as statewide coaches of the year were Delone Catholic’s Gerry Eckenrode in Class AA and Bishop Carroll’s Bob Gongloff in Class A. Gongloff also won last year, when AA and A coaches were grouped into a single category for the Small School coach of the year award.
Oakland Catholic’s 55-41 victory over Downingtown gave the Eagles their second PIAA Class AAAA title in three years and their third state championship under McConnell Serio. McConnell Serio finished with a 313-68 record at Oakland Catholic, taking the Eagles to the finals in her last four years on the job. She was chosen as the Big School coach of the year in 2001, when Class AAAA and AAA coaches competed for one award.
“It was a crazy year. We started out with a lot of illnesses and injuries and then we came together,” said McConnell Serio, whose team finished 28-5. “Winning a state championship in my final year at Oakland Catholic is very special to me.”
The Eagles were 7-4 after losing all three games at the Nike Holiday Tournament in Phoenix before running off 16 consecutive wins. Then came a 55-45 defeat to Upper St. Clair in the District 7 final, denying Oakland Catholic a fifth straight WPIAL championship.
“That was a real eye-opener,” McConnell Serio said. “Losing that game, the players refocused and realized they couldn’t lose another one. Going into the state playoffs, we had a new attitude. I think we were putting too much pressure on ourselves. Even my husband (Mount Lebanon coach Pete Serio) said, “Suz, you need to enjoy this.’ We played more relaxed after that.”
Allentown Central Catholic joined Cranberry and North Catholic as the only schools to win three consecutive PIAA titles with its 52-43 victory over Villa Maria. Kopp’s Vikettes accomplished that with four first-year starters.
“I always like to emphasize that the program may have won three in a row, but it’s the first one for this team. Sometimes they have a tendency to get lumped together,” Kopp said. “Last year and the year before, we had such a talented group. This year, we had to play more disciplined (on offense), and we had to play better defense.”
Allentown Central Catholic finished 32-1, its lone blemish a four-point loss to Emmaus in the third game of the season. Kopp is 566-127 in 23 years with the Vikettes, 640-151 overall as a prep coach and has taken Allentown Central Catholic to the District 11 finals every year since 1986.
In his fourth season, Eckenrode led Delone Catholic to its first PIAA championship. The Squirettes went 30-5, winning the District 3 Class AA title for a second straight season.
“I actually thought last year we had a better shot,” said Eckenrode, whose 2002 team lost to Trinity in the Eastern regional final. “This year’s team was a bunch of overachievers.”
Eckenrode is 99-32 at Delone.
Under Gongloff, Bishop Carroll became just the third team to win consecutive Class A crowns. The Lady Huskies matched a school record by finishing 31-2, raising Gongloff’s record in 13 years to 310-79. He has taken four teams to the PIAA finals.
“We knew we could repeat if we played up to our potential,” Gongloff said.
Bishop Carroll trailed Monessen by six points with less than two minutes to play in the PIAA quarterfinals, but rallied to win in double overtime. The Lady Huskies won their remaining two PIAA playoff games by margins of 20 points and 14 points.