It took a few weeks, but Loyalsock coach Ron Insinger was finally starting to come down a bit from the high produced when his Lancers captured the Class AAA state championship last month.

Now the Loyalsock legend is sky high again. And he has one more tremendous achievement which he can add to, arguably, the state’s most impressive resume.

Insinger was named the Class AAA Coach of the Year on Wednesday evening. The only things missing on Insinger’s coaching check list before this season were a state title and state Coach of the Year. Now the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Famer has both.

It was another banner day for Loyalsock as Idris Ali won Class AAA Player of the Year and his brother Saraj Ali earned first team all-state honors.

“I feel so honored and privileged,” Insinger said. “This is basically icing on the cake. I thought coming home with the gold was about as high as you can get, but this takes it one step further.”

“He also has always looked at me as a leader on the floor and has trust in me to lead the team which gives me more confidence,” Idris Ali said. “Outside of basketball I know I can come to him any time I need if I am having a problem with something, so he has been a great help.”

That continued in 2021 as Loyalsock became the area’s first basketball state champion since 1999 Williamsport.

Despite losing three starters, including all-state guard Aiden Gair, Insinger helped Loyalsock go 25-1, win its last 17 games and defeat Executive Education and Math, Civics and Sciences teams during the state tournament which featured multiple Division 1 recruits.

Loyalsock is 53-2 over the last two seasons and undefeated in postseason play, going 11-0. The Lancers reached the state quarterfinals a year ago but never received the opportunity to play since COVID shut the season down. Despite not knowing if there would even be a season, Loyalsock players never stopped working, convinced they could achieve history and become the program’s first state champion come March 2021.

“If you ask any of our players, they felt strongly that they could have won it last year. We had some boys step up this year and make sure we took care of unfinished business,” Insinger said. “We worked harder than ever have even though we had no organized weekend tournaments or summer leagues to play in, they found somewhere to shoot and to play. That in itself bred a lot of the success.”

Loyalsock has achieved incredible success during Insinger’s 47 seasons. Insinger has won a state-record 1,066 games, 24 district championships, 30 league titles and led the Lancers to 38 20-win seasons. They also have won 85% of their games played under Insinger.

Through the years the expectations changed a lot and the goals become a lot loftier. Loyalsock teams had accomplished so much, but the state championship was the Holy Grail.

Different teams kept chipping away with the 1993 team reaching the final and the 2015 squad the Final Four. Finally, that trophy has a home in Loyalsock.

“We have a great basketball tradition at Loyalsock. When I first started coaching just winning the conference was the ultimate goal. Then we got a taste of winning districts and then winning the conference wasn’t enough,” Insinger said. “Then you win districts consistently and it feels like we should win 2-3 state games or at least one state game or it doesn’t feel like a success. It kept raising the bar.”

Now the bar has gone as high as it possibly can. The goal now is keeping it there. Winning a state championship is beyond hard, but future Lancers know it’s possible now because they have actually seen it happen. It also helps having Saraj Ali back as well as many promising younger players.

Either way, the expectations are not changing. Insinger is not going anywhere either. He could have left on the ultimate high but winning a state title provides an addictive feeling. Once one does it, he or she wants to do it again. That goes for Insinger and his players.

“One of the biggest things is you have to convince boys they are capable of doing it. They bought into that philosophy, so it’s bred a lot of success at the lower levels,” Insinger said. “People mention to me wherever they go in the township they see kids out shooting in their driveways or parks. I’ve never seen parks so busy. It was kind of a lost art the last 10 years or so, and there would be a lot of times I’d drive by and see empty courts. The other night I saw 25-30 people there and teams were waiting for their chance to get on the court and play. This was really big for Loyalsock, and it has caught on like wildfire.”

Insinger has been fanning those flames for 47 years and now he literally has done it all.