EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the latest in a series looking back at the top 10 boys basketball teams, coaches, games and players from last decade

The older he gets the better Ron Insinger gets. He keeps trying, but Father Time might have met his match as he competes against Loyalsock’s coaching legend.

Insinger has coached for 46 years and the championships keep flowing like syrup on pancakes. This past year he guided a team with four new starters to one of the best years in program history as Loyalsock finished 28-1, captured a second straight District 4 Class AAA championship and reached the state quarterfinals. The Lancers might have gone farther, but the tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic with eight teams still remaining.

Insinger is the state’s all-time wins leader and has compiled a remarkable 1,041 victories in 46 seasons. The regular seasons once lasted 24 games and since 2009 have gone 22. And Insinger has averaged 22.6 wins per year. Maybe just as impressive, he pushed that average higher throughout last decade and kept Loyalsock among the state’s elite programs.

Times may change and the game may change, but Insinger changes with them. Insinger remains as adaptable as he is affable and Loyalsock has remained a district power since he took over in 1974.

“We began the tradition of Lancer Lightning as we knew no offense other than 94 feet of run and fun,” said Eric McNulty who played for Insinger from 1984-86. “No other school in the area believed in it, but he adapted to what was going on in the college game, we flourished and we were able to win the first of his many to come state playoff wins. I think his No. 1 positive coaching trait has been his ability to adapt his team to the game they are capable of playing. He never plays a consistent style, he plays the style of ball that works with the cards he is dealt. He’s not afraid to change.”

The only thing Insinger does not change is his teams results.

Insinger’s resume reads like a Dickens novel and he produced one of its best chapters last decade. Insinger led Loyalsock a district-best 220 wins, compiling a .794 winning percentage. The Lancers averaged 22 wins per season, captured four district championships, won seven HAC-II titles, three HAC Tournament crowns and reached seven district finals and nine state tournaments. The decade included wins No. 800, 900 and 1,000 as well as eight 20-win seasons, three state quarterfinal appearances and a Final 4 berth in 2015.

No matter who is on the floor, the more things change, the more they stay the same at Loyalsock. This is a program with a culture unlike few others in Pennsylvania and Insinger keeps it growing stronger each season with his teams going 55-3 the past two years.

“One thing I tell everybody is that when you end up coaching anywhere else you have to build up a culture. At Loyalsock that culture is already here and it’s incredible,” Jeff Everett, Insinger’s outstanding assistant coach since 2012, said last decade. “That is why the kids are working so hard. The kids know there is so much legacy. You walk into practice and younger guys are peaking in. It’s almost addicting. You want to be part of not only the tradition, but the family being built.”

Insinger has built one of the biggest families in state history. The measure of his success not only is the wins he has compiled, but the lives he has positively influenced. Insinger has coached generations of different players and still keeps in touch with many, stretching back to his first season in 1974 when he flipped a coin to decide between taking the Canton or Loyalsock job. Once a Lancer, always a Lancer.

That is why so many alumni frequently stuff the gym when Insinger goes for one of his milestone victories. So many want to be there to congratulate a man who has made such an impact on their lives.

“It’s something special, him doing this and the players he’s had and the season he’s had. To be a part of it is really something special,” two-time all-state guard Gerald Ross said after Loyalsock won Insinger his 1,000th game in January of 2019. “He’s been a mentor and like a second father to me. He helped me develop and improve. He’s helped me through life situations. He’s helped me through everything.”

“CI has been like a second father to me since I joined Little Lancers basketball way back in middle school. Along with my dad and grandfather, CI helped me develop a passion for basketball and is the reason why I always dreamed about being a part of the Loyalsock basketball dynasty that our school is known for,” 2011 all-state forward Tyler Bogaczyk said as Insinger approached his 800th win in 2013. “Whether it was at practice, in his office, or working at his basketball camps, CI and I developed a very strong relationship on and off the court. I felt like I could talk to him about anything. We have had so many heart to heart conversations and he has helped me through some very rough times.”

Loyalsock had few rough times last decade, opening it with six straight state tournament appearances and closing it with three more. As successful as Insinger’s teams were it is easy to overlook the 2011 team which won 18 games and reached states after losing four starters or the 2016 team which won its last three games to qualify for districts after losing its top seven players from the previous year’s state semifinalist. Those teams revealed what has made Insinger so good over the years with his teams almost always making major in-season improvements. That 2016 team beat two teams which had defeated it earlier in the season to extend a playoff streak which stretches back to 2001 and paved the way for the four tremendous seasons which have followed.

Insinger guided Loyalsock to its first district title of the decade in 2012 and the Lancers added two more in 2013 and 2015. That 2015 senior class won 99 games in four years and reached the state’s Elite 8 in 2013. It then became the first Loyalsock state semifinalist of the 2000s and nearly reached the state championship.

As one great senior class graduated, another outstanding one arrived in 2016. That group won 70 games over its final three seasons together and formed the nucleus for a dominant 2019 team which went 27-2 and romped to HAC-II, HAC Tournament and district championships. The 2018 team did not win a district title, but reached the state quarterfinals for a third time in six seasons, their enthusiastic coach bringing out their best at the perfect time.

“Half the battle is loving it and no doubt he loves it. Every day he walks in the gym and he’s excited to be there,” Everett said. “(Playing) in college, the toughest part was staying motivated every day, but when you have a coach walk in like CI every day, like it’s the first day of the year, it’s not hard to get motivated. When you see how excited he is that rubs off on you.”

So too does Insinger’s personality. He has made lots of fans outside Loyalsock despite so often beating their teams. Insinger has 1,041 career wins and is a Pennsylvania Hall of Famer but he has never put himself on a pedestal.

“It was always extremely important to both of our parents to treat everyone the way that you would like to be treated. Be kind. Be a good friend. Be generous,” Insinger’s oldest daughter Laurie Emery said in 2019. “If anyone truly knows my parents, they would know that they are always eager to help others. My parents taught all of these things by example.”

At his core, Insinger is a teacher. He taught physical education and drivers education for more than 40 years at Loyalsock and has taught his players basketball and life for the last 46 years. He remains humble, shining the light on others for his achievements. And he still possesses the gift of getting the best out of his players as well as any coach in any sport in Pennsylvania ever has.

Insinger is a fierce competitor. One could not achieve the success he has without featuring that relentless drive. But what really keeps him coming back strong each season is the players. It is working with them to reach a common goal and help them thrive beyond high school.

“I’m elated that I’m reaching this milestone. It’s very special to me, but it’s the players who have done all that work and allowed it to happen,” Insinger said after winning his 1,000th game. “Not ever could I have had any dreams of having this kind of longevity. I’m very goal-oriented and always have short-term goals and long-term ones. My short-term goal when I started was get through the regular seaosn alive and long-term was to stick to it for five years because I know stability is important to any program.

Loyalsock has been as stable as any basketball program over the last 46 years with Insinger and it fitting together like a hand in a glove.

Some day Father Time will finally beat Insinger. But it looks like that will not be happening any time soon.