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Marquette Catholic boys basketball coach Steve Medford has been named District 19 “Coach of the Year” for the fifth time in eight seasons.
The veteran coach’s selection was made official at a recent Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame banquet. Under Medford’s guidance, the Explorers went 29-1 this season, including posting an undefeated regular season.
"It’s a great honor to get this award, but it’s ultimately a reflection of the type of kids we coach," Medford told Riverbender.com. "We have been very fortunate to have kids that want to compete and are willing to sacrifice some personal goals for the good of our team."
Marquette’s dreams of a perfect season were dashed in a 55-53 overtime loss to Columbia in the championship game of the Class 3A Waterloo Regional.
The Explorers went into the game ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press Class 3A poll from the regular season. Afterwards, Medford told the Belleville News-Democrat that he thought his team may have lost some of its rhythm during a 10-day layoff to mark the start of the postseason
Still, Medford counted the year as one of the best for the program that he can remember.
“They had a great season,” he told the News-Democrat.
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