Chaminade's Quinn gets win No. 400
Chaminade High School junior guard #12 Kevin Sheehy, left, aggressively defends Walt Whitman #10 Bryan Jimenez during a varsity boys basketball game at Chaminade High School. Chaminade won the game 76-38. (December 18, 2009) Credit: James A. Escher
He stands up for the entire game, frequently wandering far from his bench, sometimes straying across halfcourt as he barks instructions to his players. But Chaminade coach Jim Quinn never has wandered far from his alma mater.
"I played at Chaminade and ever since my senior year in high school, this is all I ever hoped for. It's all I ever wanted to do," Quinn said after gaining the 400th victory of his career last night, a breezy 72-48 decision over St. Dominic in the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA boys basketball opener for both teams.
He never mentioned the milestone to his players, but the Flyers were well aware of the circumstances and came out flying, making sure their coach would have a stress-free victory. Chaminade (7-1) scored the first 17 points and led 25-3 after the first quarter. Very few of Quinn's previous 399 wins were this easy.
"We knew how many he had. We definitely wanted to get this for him," said point guard Kevin Sheehy, who scored eight of his 10 points during the first-quarter barrage. "He's a legend at Chaminade. He's the one we all want to play for. He's a great coach who stresses hard work and discipline, and that goes beyond basketball."
Those qualities helped the Flyers build their huge lead. They ran their offense to perfection, nailing four threes in the first quarter, playing man-to-man pressure defense that forced St. Dominic (4-7) into frequent turnovers, and converting numerous second-chance opportunities. Rich Zoller scored 12 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Matt Gonyon had 10 of his 14 points in the first quarter and Patrick Farrell scored 12 points off the bench.
"We try to jump on teams early," Sheehy said, "because the Catholic League is the toughest league on Long Island."
Quinn has coached in it for all 24 of his varsity seasons, posting a 400-194 record with seven CHSAA titles and two state Catholic titles. He called Chaminade's first-ever league championship in 1989 "memorable" but other than that, said, "Every season has its special moments and special players."
The Iona College graduate saluted his players for making him the 10th coach in Long Island history to reach 400 victories.
"In these 24 years, I have not scored one basket or got one rebound," Quinn said, wryly admitting that he "may have drawn a few charges" when wandering too far downcourt. "This is a testament to the outstanding young men I've had the privilege of coaching at Chaminade."
