Longtime Mahar boys basketball coach Chad Softic reached a milestone few achieve on Tuesday.
Softic, who took over the Senators program in 2007, entered Tuesday’s showdown with rival Athol sitting at 199 career wins. After making a name as a defensive guru, it was only fitting that Softic’s defense lifted his squad to a win, holding the Bears to just four field goals in the second half to walk away with a 47-35 triumph.
It was win No. 200 for Softic, which was all the more sweet coming against Athol, the high school he graduated from that has turned into his rival for the past 15 seasons.
“It means I’ve had great players, which I have,” Softic said, “and that I’ve been around for a long time. I’ve gotten a lot of support from my mom and dad, the administration at Mahar, Helene Holmes, Pat Kaltner and my assistant Zach Rand and I have been together from the get go. I owe a lot to them.”
Softic has had great success with the Sens, and he reached the peak in 2012 when he helped guide Mahar to a Western Mass. Division 2 championship, beating South Hadley 47-31. In the state tournament, the Senators defeated St. Bernard’s, 58-36, before earning a 45-41 win over Brighton to take home the state title, the first and only in school history.
While Tuesday’s win was a milestone for Softic, it was also a big game for the Senators’ hopes of making it into the MIAA Div. 4 state tournament field this season.
Mahar entered the game sitting at No. 38 in the latest MIAA Power Rankings, and with only the top 32 teams earning a guaranteed spot in the tournament, the Senators are aiming to finish the season with a .500 or better record to assure they’ll wind up in the field.
Sitting at 6-5 overall entering Tuesday, picking up an independent win over Athol to finish with a season split against their rivals was crucial. Mahar is now 7-5, with Hampshire League South contests left against Lenox, Greenfield (twice), Drury and Pioneer. There’s also an independent game remaining against Quaboag.
The Sens should feel good about where they’re at going into the final stretch. Mahar has been playing its best ball of late, defeating Drury, Frontier and Chicopee before nearly handing Hopkins its first loss of the season last Friday, falling 50-44.
Softic said he likes where his team is heading into the final stretch of the season, but knows they’ll need to play their best in the closing stretch in an HL South where it seems anyone can beat anyone on any given night.
As for how much longer Softic plans on coaching? Don’t think he’ll be done anytime soon, as he searches to get the Senators back to another state championship game.
“It’s been fun,” Softic said.“Hopefully I’m around for another 200 wins. I’ve got some years left in me. We’ll keep pushing.”
While it was a disappointing loss for Athol, the Bears have positioned themselves to make a run at the Hampshire League North title this season.
Athol sits at 10-4 overall on the season, having won four in a row before the loss to Mahar. The Bears are 7-1 in league play, trailing leader Mt. Greylock (8-0) by one game.
Greylock won the first matchup, 66-51, though the game was tied with two minutes to go before the Mounties pulled away. Athol heads out to Williamstown to take on Greylock next Tuesday in a tilt that will likely determine whether the Mounties win their second straight league title or if Athol can earn a piece of the trophy.
While the Senators zone gave the Bears some trouble on Tuesday, against teams that have played man-to-man, Athol has been able to use its athleticism to get up and down the court and give opponents problems. Athol head coach Brian Patria is hoping they can do that on Tuesday against Greylock.
“We know where we are,” Patria said. “I’m excited for this team. We’re a dynamic team. Games like this where the other team plays nearly all zone, we have to adapt to that. We did OK moving the ball around and working our zone offense.”