It’s 800 and counting for Saints’ indefatigable Snip Esterly
2023 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Snip Esterly earned his 800th win Thursday as Berks Catholic defeated Daniel Boone 69-49 in Birdsboro before a crowd littered with his former players, including Casey and Connor Jack, Joe Linderman, Matt Ashcroft, and more.
“It means I’m getting older,” said Esterly of becoming just the seventh boys basketball coach in state history to reach 800 victories. “I’ve had some really great teams over the years. You can see a lot of them came back. That’s why it’s been so special.”
| PA’s winningest boys coaches | |||
| *Ron Insinger | Loyalsock | 1,033 | |
| *Aaron Straub | Elk Co. Catholic | 957 | |
| Tony Chapman | Holy Ghost Prep | 928 | |
| *Ken Bianchi | Abington Heights | 877 | |
| *Larry Kostelac | Trinity | 809 | |
| Don Graham | North Catholic | 801 | |
| *Snip Esterly | Berks Catholic | 800 | |
Esterly demands the most from his players because he realizes their potential. There’s a reason why so many former players were on hand and why his current players were baaing to signify Esterly as the G.O.A.T after the game.
Linderman, the 6-9 center on Central Catholic’s 1996 state finalist, can fully understand Esterly’s passion.
“He says he doesn’t remember this,” Linderman said, “but he threw me off the team after our Antietam game when I was a freshman on JV. I was a young punk and thought I should’ve been playing more.
“He just kept me humble and pushed me so hard those next three years to become the player I became. The work ethic he instilled in me has carried on throughout my life.”
Linderman went on to play at Drexel where he scored 1,816 points, fourth in program history.
Esterly’s courtside fieriness may have toned down over his 35-year head coaching career but that edge will never be fully quelled as long as he’s calling the shots. The edginess has carried over after a teenage Esterly was cut from John Silan’s Wilson Bulldogs all those years ago.
He turned his attention to coaching and took over at Central Catholic after assistant gigs on Reggie Weiss and Dan Haughney’s staffs during the 1989-90 season, picking up his first victory with a 65-26 triumph over Twin Valley.
“I have a great wife that has let me do this for so many years,” Esterly said. “Great co-workers past and present that let me get out of work (to coach). And this would’ve never happened if Reggie never came over to my house one day and asked me to help him coach.”
Esterly won 541 more games at Central Catholic with players such as Linderman and Ashcroft before becoming the Saints’ head coach 13 seasons ago and leading players like the Jacks and more recently Josiah Jordan, Josh and Kingston McKoy, and Parker Nein to 258 more victories.
He said he doesn’t remember that first victory but will always remember No. 700 in a Berks title win over Reading High; No. 672 when he passed Lloyd Wolf who was sitting next to him on the bench; and the 2007 state title.
Add No. 800 to the list.
“It’s not even close to the district championships, county championships, and that state title,” Esterly said of win No. 800. “There is no comparison. I like winning championships.”
He’s won plenty, with 14 district golds and eight Berks titles, as well as a PIAA championship.
Esterly said he wants to continue coaching for at least another four years, which would likely put him past 900 victories, but he says it’s not about his win total.
“Basketball means so much to me,” he said. “We’ve met so many great people just because of basketball. It’s just fantastic how many great people you meet.”
The Berks Catholic trio of Josh McKoy (22 points), Nein (22), and Kingston McKoy (17) eventually outlasted Daniel Boone in the second half after the Saints took the Blazers’ best punch.
The Saints (3-0 Berks II, 8-0) got off to a slow start and led by just seven at the half. Daniel Boone junior guard Brendan Gaines scored 12 points in the second quarter, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that cut BC’s lead to 30-23.
Berks Catholic sharpened its execution of Esterly’s patented stingy man-to-man defense and motion offense in the second half to pull away, outscoring the Blazers (0-4 Berks II, 5-7) by 13 in the second half.
Berks winningest coaches
| Coach | School(s) | Seasons | Record | Pct. |
| Snip Esterly | Central Cath./Berks Cath. | 35 | 800-217 | .787 |
| Lloyd Wolf | Holy Name | 40 | 626-381 | .621 |
| John Silan | Kutztown/Wilson | 26 | 527-117 | .818 |
| Reggie Weiss | Wilson/Central/Muhlenberg | 28 | 457-243 | .653 |
| Matt Coldren | Wilson | 23 | 399-191 | .676 |
| Dick Sherry | W. Reading/Wyomissing | 23 | 369-202 | .646 |
| Joe Schaaf | Central Catholic | 24 | 335-307 | .522 |
| Bob Millard | Brandywine/Muhlenberg | 27 | 323-202 | .615 |
| Rick Perez | Reading High | 12 | 281-74 | .791 |
| Ralph Leininger | Wilson | 19 | 272-166 | .621 |
| Bill Colunio | Hamburg | 16 | 271-134 | .669 |
| Scoop Clemens | Ontelaunee/Muhlenberg | 20 | 270-110 | .710 |
| Bob Kautter | Gov. Mifflin | 19 | 260-154 | .628 |
| Tony Casamassa | Conrad Weiser | 19 | 257-215 | .544 |
| Jim Gano | Reading High | 10 | 251-51 | .831 |
| John Shaner | West Reading | 27 | 251-213 | .541 |
| Mike Zuber | Mt. Penn/Gov. Mifflin | 17 | 245-158 | .608 |
| Chris Gallo | Schuylkill Valley | 15 | 203-167 | .549 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Daniel Boone | 9 | 14 | 10 | 16 | 49 |
| Berks Catholic | 16 | 14 | 16 | 23 | 69 |
| Blazers (5-7) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Gaines | 8-13 | 2-3 | 3-5 | 0 | 9 | 21 |
| DiGiacomo | 1-8 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Welker | 2-5 | 0-3 | 1-2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Delissaint | 4-8 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| Rodriguez-Guzman | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Lacey | 3-3 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Pinchok | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Sherman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pingitore | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hallman | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kedis | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Allen | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 20-42 | 5-12 | 4-11 | 4 | 25/26 | 49 |
| Saints (8-0) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Nein | 9-19 | 1-2 | 3-8 | 1 | 5 | 22 |
| K. McKoy | 8-11 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 5 | 4 | 17 |
| J. McKoy | 6-10 | 9-10 | 1-1 | 1 | 8 | 22 |
| Komoro | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Diaz | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dominguez | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Altimar | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Suski | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Totals | 27-52 | 10-12 | 5-15 | 8 | 24/25 | 69 |
Turnovers: Berks Catholic 5, Daniel Boone 17. Team Rebounds: Berks Catholic 1, Daniel Boone 1.
