Matisi disappointed his South Range time is over

April 19, 2019 at 12:00a.m.

In six seasons, Raiders won 3 district titles

BEAVER TOWNSHIP

When Tony Matisi took over as South Range High School girls basketball coach in 2013, he inherited a team that had recently underachieved by Raiders standards.

His goal was to restore immediate respectability to a once-proud program.

Four league championships, three district titles and 113 wins later, Matisi is out at South Range. Matisi has been notified that the school will be looking to move in a different direction.

“I’m obviously disappointed by this decision,” Matisi said Thursday. “As a staff, we’ve been working hard since that very first day to get the program to this point.

“I honestly believe that all of the pieces are in place for my successor to take this program to the next level.”

South Range superintendent Dennis Dunham said on Wednesday that “Coach Matisi is a very caring and kind individual that represented South Range School and the basketball program in a positive light.

“Coaching decisions are never easy, and it has been determined that we will seek other applicants for the position for the 2019-20 school year,” Dunham said. “We wish Coach Matisi and his family the very best and thank him for his service to South Range Schools.”

If the program struggled prior to Matisi’s arrival, it flourished under his direction. Success was immediate as he led the Raiders to their first of three district titles in his maiden season when they advanced to their first regional since the 1997-98 campaign.

“I’d like to thank the South Range School District for the opportunity to coach their girls basketball team,” the former Lowellville girls head coach said. “We set high goals each season and I feel as though we’ve accomplished everything we wanted to within the time frame we had to operate.”

In addition to three district championships under Matisi, the Raiders were runners-up in 2015-16. They averaged 19 wins a season and posted a school record 23 victories in 2014-15.

Matisi’s teams went 113-40 overall with a .739 winning percentage in 153 games coached.

Matisi guided the program during their transition from the Inter-Tri County League Upper Tier to independent status to joining the Northeast 8 Conference this past season.

“Our schedule this past year was the most challenging in program history and for me, also, as a head coach,” Matisi said of joining a league that includes Poland, Struthers and Niles. “I’m proud of the fact that I’ve run a clean program, never shown partiality and feel absolutely great about the condition that I am leaving the program in for the next head coach.”

A graduate of Lowellville High School, Matisi has spent 27 seasons as a girls head coach. He coached at Ursuline High School for six seasons then led Lowellville to 12 league crowns and seven district championships.

His has a 460-187 (.715) overall mark in 643 total games with 16 league or conference titles and 10 district crowns to his credit.

Matisi isn’t shutting the door on a sideline return and said he remains open to coaching once again, He has been contacted by several area programs seeking his availability as an assistant coach since word first broke on Monday of his dismissal.

“My only wish is that this could have been done sooner because there were some openings out there that I might have pursued,” Matisi said. “It is my full intention to get back into the game but only if the right situation arises.

“If it isn’t in the cards, then I can honestly look back and sat that I have had a pretty nice run.”