Chateaugay's Boyea credits players, town for successful road to 300 victories

Throughout his long run as boys basketball coach at Chateaugay, Ron Boyea has remained humble.

He knows his teams have won several Section 10 Class D titles and achieved state honors as well.

But he had no idea that his 64-28 win at Parishville-Hopkinton on Jan. 22 was his 300th career victory until one of his assistant coaches informed him.

"It's very nice, an honor," said Boyea, who led Chateaugay to a state title in 2008. "I'm fortunate to have had a lot of good players and dedicated players, as well as parents who are willing to put time in."

Boyea has coached the Bulldogs since the 1991-92 season and ranks second after USC men's basketball coach Kevin O'Neill as the most well-known hoops coach from the tiny community.

"I see him in the summer, go up to his house and so on," Boyea said of O'Neill. "He's a big supporter of our school in general. He donates money and it's a general fund to be used, not always just for athletics. He's big into education."

Boyea has not only coached the Bulldogs for almost 20 years, he's also an alum. He and O'Neill were teammates in high school.

"I think it's a great sports town," Boyea said. "Our community really supports all our programs. I guess this is maybe a little more special for me because I grew up here. I've been here my whole life, except for college (SUNY Brockport)."

Chateaugay (13-2 overall, 11-0 Northern Athletic Conference East Division) has remained consistently strong during Boyea's time and he says the students have remained essentially the same over the years, even though he's now coaching the children of some of his former players.

"But at the same time, the game has changed," Boyea said. "I noticed with the 3-point shot came in that you seem to be more in control with that 3-point shot. A 15-point lead is not safe anymore."

The success Boyea has enjoyed with the Bulldogs is not only due to his direction. He also credits the work ethic of the kids and the dedication of their parents.

"We seem to have a good bunch and that's all you can really ask," Boyea said. "They work hard and give it their best. Now it's almost a 12-month, year-round job if you want to stay competitive. Other schools do it and if you don't, you fall behind. It's not easy. Parents have to give their free time. I think we've been very fortunate that our parents are willing to do all they can to give their kids a chance."

One major development in Boyea's career has been the Internet. Even though statistics are readily available and chat rooms provide teenagers a chance to trash talk, Boyea has not found his way to that medium.

"To me, that's a whole different world. I don't understand any of it," Boyea said.

ALMOST PLAYOFF TIME

Section 10's basketball playoffs will start on Feb. 16 and championship dates and sites have been set for the winter sports.

Hockey will hold its Division I and II title games at Clarkson University's Cheel Arena on either Feb. 28 or March 1. If the Clarkson women's team hosts a playoff series, the games may have to take place on March 1, since Feb. 28 would be the date of game three of a Clarkson series.

The Class A boys and girls basketball championship games will take place at SUNY Potsdam on Feb. 22, with the girls game at 6 p.m. and the boys game at 7:45 p.m.

The Class B girls title game will be at 8 p.m. Feb. 26 at SUNY Potsdam. The boys contest will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 27 at SUNY Potsdam.

The girls Class C title game will be played at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 26 at SUNY Potsdam with the boys meeting at 1 p.m. Feb. 27 at SUNY Potsdam.

Class D's girls final will take place at 6:15 p.m. Feb. 26 at SUNY Potsdam with the boys deciding their championship at 2:45 p.m. Feb. 27 at SUNY Potsdam.

Sportswriter Cap Carey covers Northern Athletic Conference sports for the Times.