Chuck Blake and his Kewanee Boiler Girls closed the regular season with a milestone victory Saturday.
The Boiler Girls rolled to a 45-24 win at Morrison, giving Blake his 500th career coaching triumph.
“You can’t do anything in coaching if you don’t have the kids,” said Blake.
“It’s about longevity,” he added, “and being around a number of years and having the number of quality athletes I’ve had in all three stops.”
Blake started coaching girls basketball at Neponset High School in 1982 and compiled a record of 261-77 in 13 seasons. His next stop was Wethersfield with a record of 153-97 from 1996 to 2003, and he’s currently 86-73 since taking the Kewanee job in 2006.
He’s won 12 regional and four sectional titles — three at Neponset and one at Wethersfield — in his career.
“I’ve been fortunate to have pretty good assistants,” said Blake. “I don’t know what I would’ve done at Kewanee without Frank (Tocha).”
Not many benches at any level of basketball can boast 956 wins — 500 from Blake and 456 from his current KHS?assistant Tocha in his 28 years as head coach of the Boiler Girls.
“Sometimes we still look at each other with blank stares when things are going wrong,” laughed Blake.
Blake’s time on the bench has created many friendships — several of which make him return to the subject of his longevity in the game. Three of his closest friends in the game — Mick Shinkevich, Gary Johnson and Jim Frankenreider —?have passed away.
“It hit me when Frank and I were talking about longevity on the bus one night,” said Blake. “The time came too soon for those guys.”
And there are plenty of family ties to the game. His wife Sue helps with stats and films games, as does Tocha’s wife Betsy.
“We’re both empty-nesters, so it keeps us in touch with that age,” said Blake.?
“Also the opportunity to coach my daughter (Courtney) was special, even though she may not think so,”?he added.
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Blake closes regular season with 500th win
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