Published by the Times Union on January 22, 2019.
It required overtime Friday night, but the Christian Brothers Academy boys’ basketball team managed to secure a 65-57 road victory at Averill Park. That Suburban Council triumph proved to be a historic win as it allowed coach Dave Doemel to tie Bill Telasky atop the all-time CBA coaching list with 334 victories.
Doemel, who has guided the Brothers’ varsity program since the 1997-98 season, can surpass Telasky on Friday night if the Brothers (8-5 overall, 6-4 league) prevail against visiting Columbia (8-6, 7-4).
After a rocky start to his varsity tenure replacing Jim Pedlow that saw Doemel’s first three teams finish 3-18, 3-19 and 3-18, the 1971 CBA graduate turned the Brothers into a perennial sectional title contender.
Doemel has long praised Jim Smith, athletic director at the school when he began his varsity basketball coaching career, for sticking with him when some wanted him replaced after a 9-55 start.
Under Doemel’s tutelage, CBA made 10 consecutive Section II title-game appearances and won seven championships during that span. The Brothers captured four straight Section II Class AA crowns (2009-12) — including the 2010 state championship.
Doemel enters Friday’s game with a varsity record of 334 wins and 148 losses. He previously amassed records of 72-18 as the freshman coach and 140-56 as JV coach, giving him 536 total basketball wins at his alma mater.