Running down the court, relentlessly guarding their basket as the clock counts down, beating the opposing team, sweat from exercise and anticipation beading against their foreheads. The freshman Girls basketball team, guided by coach Don Kutchey, lead him to his 300th victory in the 2017 season.

“I was really excited about hitting 300 wins because that was a goal of mine ever since I was young,” Kutchey said. “My middle school coach got 300 wins when I was on his eighth grade team, and it was really special to him, so that was always something that was a goal of mine.”

Freshman Kyla Lynch is a member of the team that took Kutchey to his 300th win.

“I like how he’s hard on me,” Lynch said. “I feel like that connection with your coach is important, and that’s something I have with him. I like how he’s funny, and he knows when to be nice and when to be serious. He has made me much more aggressive. He didn’t start me at first, so I worked harder so that I could start, and I ended up scoring 17 points in a game where I started for the first time.”

After coaching for 17 years, Kutchey has been anticipating his 300th win. However, there was minimal celebration for the accomplishment.

“We had a little cake and they brought in balloons and we got our picture taken together,” Kutchey said. “I’ve had really good kids; Really good players, really good students, really good athletes that have brought me here. I told the kids, [that this would be my three hundredth win] and that actually made them more nervous because they weren’t sure if they would get it or not. It was a close game too, so we didn’t know until halfway through the fourth quarter that it would really happen that night. The reaction from the parents and the kids and Mr. Bakker was pretty amazing.”

Thankful for his players, Kutchey will continue to coach in the upcoming seasons, working towards accumulating even more wins.

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