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Ron Insinger wins 1,000th game as Loyalsock boys basketball game in victory vs. Warrior Run

By Jon Gerardi 5 min read

TURBOTVILLE — As the fourth quarter was about to begin, House of Pain’s “Jump Around” started playing on the loud speaker. Loyalsock’s Saraj Ali and Brendan Clark started singing “Jump!” over and over as coach Ron Insinger just laughed and smiled near his bench.

The game was sealed with the Lancers up by more than 50, and it was just a matter of making it official in the next eight minutes. But the moment showed Insinger having fun and being as relaxed as you could be. If he had any nerves about reaching a huge milestone on Friday, it never showed.

Insinger and the Lancers cruised past Warrior Run on Friday night in Turbotville, 88-28, and the 60-point victory gave Insinger yet another milestone on a resume that any coach would be envious of. The win was No. 1,000 for Insinger as Loyalsock’s boys basketball coach. Insinger reached 1,000 overall career coaching wins three years ago, which included his 80 victories as a girls coach.

“I’m ecstatic, I’m a very happy man. God’s given me the stamina, the endurance, the determination and the passion to continue. It’s something that’s really special in my heart,” Insinger said standing on the court in Warrior Run’s gym.

Insinger was quick to note that the milestone wasn’t his and his alone. It’s a credit to the players he’s had in his 48-year coaching career.

“I just told my players I’ve never won a game. My 47 years of great basketball players have won the game. They have won the 1,000 games,” Insinger said. “I have to give the credit to my great players through my 47 years and my super assistant coaches because they’ve made life easy for me. I’ve been blessed.”

After Friday’s win, Insinger now stands with 1,080 career victories.

Insinger has accomplished a ton in his time with Loyalsock. He won the program’s first state championship last winter, has 24 district championships, 30 league titles and a remarkable 38 20-win seasons. Insinger never envisioned himself coaching long enough to get 1,000 wins as the boys coach. He set his eyes on breaking the state record of 801, which he has long since surpassed.

“People joked about 900 and 1,000 and, to be honest, it’s happened quickly. I said once it becomes a job for me, I’m walking away, but it hasn’t, I’m still having fun,” Insinger said. “Practices still go quickly. I look forward to the games. … When all that stops, then C.I.’s going to walk away.”

The basketball schedule doesn’t give Insinger much time to sit back and enjoy the milestones. After all, it’s been 10 months since the Lancers won the PIAA Class AAA championship, and that still hasn’t fully sunk in yet for Insinger.

“I’ve got scrapbooks and paper clippings and so on,” Insinger said. “Once I do call it quits, I’m going to enjoy going through all that.”

But Insinger isn’t calling it quits yet, and Friday’s win was the latest for him and Loyalsock in a season that’s still ongoing. Win No. 1,000 wasn’t the most exciting or thrilling, but it did showcase the depth the Lancers have offensively. Loyalsock saw six players reach double figures in the victory. Brendan Clark led the team with 15 points. Gage Patterson added 14 and Jaiden Ross, Nate Bauman and Saraj Ali all chipped in 12 points. And Jaylen Andrews scored 10.

“Everyone said we’d be a one-man team (with just Saraj back as a starter). We had to prove to the public that that’s not the case and tonight was a good scenario of that,” Insinger said. “We spread the ball and other guys can play the game too. You can’t just shut down Ali and shut down the Lancers. … They’re distributing the ball and are very unselfish and that chemistry is great.”

Ali did a little of everything on Friday night. He nearly had a double-double as he grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. He also had three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Defensively, the Lancers played outstanding. Loyalsock held Warrior Run to just nine points in the first quarter and the Defenders went 8 minutes, 17 seconds between the first and second quarters without scoring a basket as the Lancers continued to increase the lead in the second quarter into the 40s.

“We take a lot of pride in (our defense), and I think they had 11 points at halftime. The important thing is we made them work for every basket,” Insinger said. “They didn’t get any easy shots.”

Warrior Run had just one player in double figures in starter Mason Sheesley, who scored 10. Ryan Newton added eight and Carter Marr scored six.

Loyalsock didn’t waste much time building up a lead. Loyalsock led by double digits with 5:14 to play in the first quarter when Clark hit a dagger 3-pointer and from there, continued to increase the lead. Warrior Run twice got it down to 12 points in the first quarter in the final two minutes, but that was the closest the Defenders came to bringing it back into single digits.

“We had a close ball game (Thursday vs. Southern). It was a nail-biter, so we wanted to get out early and not let Warrior Run get any wind under their sails and set the pace and play our game instead of playing their game,” Insinger said.

LOYALSOCK (88)

Jaylen Andrews 5 0-0 10; Jaiden Ross 6 0-0 12; Gage Patterson 7 0-0 14; Tyler Gee 3 0-2 6; Saraj Ali 5 2-4 12; Brendan Clark 6 0-0 15; Nate Bauman 4 3-4 12; Will Burdett 3 0-2 6. Totals 39 3-12 88.

WARRIOR RUN (28)

Chase Beachel 1 0-0 2; Mason Hulsizer 0 0-0 0; Carter Marr 3 0-2 6; Cooper Wilkins 0 0-0 0; Mason Sheesley 4 0-1 10; Gavin Gorton 1 0-0 2 Ryan Newton 4 0-0 8; Keegan Watson 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 0-3 28.

Loyalsock 23 33 22 10 — 88

Warrior Run 9 2 11 6 — 28

3-point goals: Loyalsock 4 (Clark 3, Bauman 1), Warrior Run 2 (Sheelsey 2).

Starting at /week.