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Matisi can earn earn victory No. 400 tonight
Veteran coach can reach milestone with victory tonight at J-M
By Greg Gulas
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
South Range girls head basketball coach Tony Matisi remembers his very first varsity win.
“It was the spring of 1991 and I was just named the head girls coach at Ursuline High School. I couldn’t wait to get going and would have started the season the very next day if I was able to,” he said. “When we finally did get under way, I felt like I had the team all set and was really excited. I had always dreamt of coaching at the varsity level and knew that we were prepared, but it took six games before that first victory finally came.
“While you question some of the things that you are doing as a first-time head coach, we steadily improved after that and it made me feel more comfortable in my new surroundings.”
When the Raiders (9-0) travel to Jackson-Milton (9-0) tonight to take on the Blue Jays in an Inter-Tri County League, intra-division game, one team will continue as the area’s lone undefeated girls squa. A South Range win would be the 400th of Matisi’s 24-year coaching career.
The architect of nine Inter-County League or Inter-Tri County League championships, seven district crowns and two regional runner-up finishes, Matisi called his six seasons with the Fighting Irish years which allowed him to mature as a coach.
“I played basketball at Lowellville High School and learned under legendary coach Dick Williams that you only get out of something that which you directly put into it,” Matisi said. “We had six good seasons at Ursuline, kept improving and I felt like I had the program pointed in the right direction. I had three young sons at the time and just needed to step back from the game, not just to spend more time with my wife and sons, but to recharge my coaching batteries as well.”
That year away (1997-98) proved beneficial because the head coaching position at Lowellville opened up the following season and the rest, as they say, is history.
In 15 seasons at his alma mater, he posted a 271-88 overall mark while taking the program to uncharted territory and the brink of a state Final Four appearance on two separate occasions.
“It’s always a great feeling to return to your alma mater. You want to show them what you can do and how appreciative you are of the school system that gave you so many great memories during your scholastic years,” Matisi said.
Matisi credits the many players he has coached over the years, also adding that his many assistant coaches share with him those 399 victories.
He’s placed a bevy of former players in the coaching ranks while one loyal assistant, Wendell Wagnon, was on his Rockets’ staff and succeeded him as Lowellville girls coach in 2013-14.
“Tony always made sure that our teams were well-prepared and focused on the task at hand,” Wagnon said. “His teams never looked ahead, never looked back and always took it one opponent at a time.”
Matisi has been called kind, gentle and caring. He commands respect, but gives it back two-fold to everyone.
Officials that work his games know first-hand his passion for the game.
“I have refereed Tony’s games for the past 25 years and known him even longer than that,” said Rob Luklan, an area basketball referee and an Atlantic Coast Conference football official. “His teams have always been well-prepared and while he might question a call every now and then, he does so in such a respectful manner. Believe me, every official appreciates the class that he exudes on the sideline.”
Matisi left Lowellville after the 2012-13 campaign, accepting the head coaching position at South Range.
It was a program in need of a fix and school principal, Steve Rohan, related that Matisi was the “Mr. Fix-it” his program needed.
“Tony is a great coach and person who has brought a tough mentality with just the right amount of kindness and that has motivated our girls. That’s the reason he has taken our program to a higher level of play,” Rohan said. “His attention to detail and the way our girls are prepared for every opponent consistently puts our team in a position to be successful.”
Now in his third season with the Raiders, Matisi has led his team to a 54-9 overall mark and at 9-0, is well on his way to an eighth consecutive 20-win season — his ninth in the past 10 years.
Colleen Eisenbraun currently serves on Matisi’s South Range staff and is the Raiders’ junior varsity coach.
“In the three short years that I’ve known Tony, I have seen so many wonderful characteristics in him, not only as a basketball coach but also as a person,” she said. “Anyone that knows or has ever met him understands that he has a certain way with people. I was also involved in programs that competed against him while he was at Lowellville and can say with absolute certainty, he is pleasant and respectful to everyone he comes across whether it is his players, parents, coaches, opposing teams, school administrators or game officials. I’ve never seen a head coach call out a referee on a call they didn’t like in a nicer way than coach Matisi.”
Like their father, Matisi’s sons have also gravitated to the coaching profession. Eldest son John, the former girls’ varsity coach at Mineral Ridge, is currently junior varsity coach at Springfield Local.
Youngest son, Mike, is the boys freshman coach at Lowellville. Middle son, Zach, is a volunteer assistant on his father’s staff at South Range.