CHANEY HIGH BASKETBALL Coaches relive old playground days

Chaney has four coaches from the city who have led the Cowboys to success in their first year as a staff.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Chaney High boys basketball coaches are living a childhood memory every day.
Coach Jim Stickel and assistants Tom Lynch and Jack Lynch are Wilson High graduates who grew to love basketball on area playgrounds. But their growth didn't stop there.
With Stickel and the Lynch brothers, along with Chaney High graduate Al Thorne, the Cowboys have four coaches from the city who use their area ties to succeed.
"We were always on the playground, even in the winter. We just got the snow shovel out," said Tom Lynch, a '77 graduate. "Jim and I wanted to be teachers and coaches since the ninth grade. Now, I wouldn't trade it for anything."
Quick success: In its first year together at Chaney, the staff has helped lead the Cowboys to a 16-5 record and a berth in Wednesday's Division II district semifinal game against Cardinal Mooney.
"[Chaney players] have had three head coaches in the last three years," said Stickel, a '78 graduate. "That's a lot of different philosophies, and sometimes it's hard to adapt."
But it didn't take the Cowboys long to adjust to a new system.
"They were slow to come around for a while, but when we went 5-0 they figured to do what we were telling them to do," Stickel said. "You think it would be [difficult to adjust] and it might be, but we won 15 games [in the regular season]."
Jack Lynch, a '79 graduate, said, "The players gained confidence in us as the season went on."
Veteran: Stickel spent eight years as an assistant at Wilson before taking over at East High. The Lynch brothers served as assistants at East during part of Stickel's 11-year tenure there.
"When they coached with me back at East, we were pretty much in synch with each other," said Stickel, who had been out of coaching for the past two years.
"I didn't know if I was going to coach anymore, but I started thinking about it," he said. "When I found out that Tom wanted to get involved and Jack wanted to get involved again, it just made the decision a lot easier."
An '86 Chaney graduate, Thorne came aboard after conversations with Jack Lynch during football season. Stickel didn't hesitate to name Thorne as the junior varsity coach, the same position he held for a short time for former coach Jim Mullally.
"We're from the city," Thorne said of the Chaney staff. "In a way, we're all like brothers."
Work as team: The chemistry they share shows on the sideline and in the team huddle.
"We've known each other so long, we always think together," Tom Lynch said.
Stickel said, "You're more organized. I don't think you start out at ground zero, because we've been there.
"They won't hesitate to say I'm wrong," Stickel said of his assistants. "Sometimes, it's hard to get assistants to do that."
The Lynch brothers work with the team's defensive assignments, with Tom Lynch handling the scouting and game plan. Stickel is the offensive coach, while Thorne coaches the younger players and compiles statistics.
"[Chaney football coach] Ron Berdis has a great tradition with his program and Jim Mullally started something with basketball," Tom Lynch said. "We just hope to continue the tradition.
"We have some good, young players," he said. "The foundation is there."