Brogioli gets 300th win as Wareham head coach
Kevin Brogioli has joined the 300 Club.
The Wareham High boys basketball head coach won the 300th game of his head coaching career Friday night on his home court as the Vikings defeated the Case High School Cardinals by a score of 88-54.
Brogioli, who is in his 17th year as the head coach, joined his father Jim Brogioli (404 wins at Wareham) as a 300-game winner. The Vikings had a chance to get their coach his historic win Tuesday night in Bourne, but lost in the final moments by a score of 62-59.
“I want to get every win, but it was nice to get it at home in front of my family and friends,” said Brogioli following the game, which saw the Vikings lead the entire game from start to finish.
Wareham got off to a 9-0 lead early, led by sophomore forward Jovahn Thomas, who had 14 points in the first quarter — including four three-pointers — on his way toward a game-high 29 points. Case hung within low double digits for most of the game until the Vikes were able to pull away after a 9-2 run to start the fourth quarter.
For the elder Brogioli, seeing his son reach the milestone was an impressive feat.
“It’s great to see him make his own mark out there,” said Jim Brogioli, noting that Kevin had averaged around 17 wins per season at the helm. “He got the 300 a lot faster than I did.”
Jim Brogioli said Kevin had been his assistant coach at the high school for 14 years prior to becoming the head coach a season after he stepped down.
“I knew he was going to be a good coach — he brought the program to another level.”
Kevin Brogioli credited his staff, former players, and current players as being key contributors to his continued success, which includes nine straight South Coast Conference Championships and a Division 3 State Championship in 2010.
“My name’s on the 300 wins, but it’s been a lot more than just one person,” he said, noting that Assistant Coach Larry Senna had been beside him on the bench since the beginning. “Larry’s been here for every single one of the 300.”
“He does a very good job,” said Wareham Athletic Director Ed Rodrigues, another member of the 300 Club as Head Coach of New Bedford High School (435 wins). “He’s always prepared for games. He does a great job of shutting down star players, and his kids believe in him.”
Rodrigues said he was impressed with the fact that the father-son duo had won over 700 games total — an average of 16 wins a season (excluding the one year neither coached) since 1972.
“That’s impressive,” he said.
As for the game itself, Kevin Brogioli said he’d like to see a more consistent effort out of his offense, which at times struggled.
“We have to play four quarters on offense,” he said.
“We turned it up at the end,” he added. “Jovahn (Thomas) was feeling it early. We’re 6-3 — that’s not where we want to be, but we lost all three games by a total of six points.”
Senior forward and co-captain Andy White added 18 points for the Vikings, and fellow senior co-captain Mathieu Griggs had 11 points. Case guard Sam Horowitz led the Cardinals with 23 points.