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Nooksack Valley coach Bill
Kelly, right, and assistant coack Scott Nunamaker find plenty to
react to during the 2003 Class 2A boys state tournament, which
Kelly's Pioneers won. Kelly, a state coaching legend, retired
after Saturday's game.
KIRK
HIROTA/Yakima Herald-Republic file |
Coaching
legend Bill Kelly retires
TOURNEYTOWN.COM
After the Nooksack Valley boys’ semifinal loss to
Toledo on Friday, Pioneers coach Bill Kelly had a message for his
players.
“I told them, you four seniors, I know you didn’t come here to play for
third place,” Kelly said, referring to the Pioneers’ impending
third-sixth game against Meridian. “But this will be your last game, and
I want you to work your butts off this one last time — I said that would
really please me, because I’m going to go out with you four seniors.”
And with that, Kelly made official what many had anticipated — that this
would be his final season. It ended Saturday night with Nooksack
Valley’s 58-38 victory over Meridian.
Kelly’s retirement brings an end to one of the most distinguished
coaching careers in Washington prep basketball history. He coached five
teams to state championships — four at Cashmere (1975, 1977, 1980, 1986)
and one at Nooksack Valley (2003).
Kelly, 63, also finishes with a remarkable 430-150 record — a 74.1
winning percentage — in boys basketball, plus a 60-20 mark in three
years as girls coach at Blaine. |
