Basketball Helped Resilient Goffredo Bounce Back

Basketball has kept John Goffredo going. And it’s nice to see things going well for Goffredo--events of the past week excluded.

More than two years ago, Goffredo lost his wife, Kathy, to ovarian cancer, leaving him a 42-year-old widower with three children. That season Goffredo’s emotionally charged Crescenta Valley High boys’ basketball team advanced to the Southern Section Division I-A final before losing to Long Beach Poly, 71-60.

For some coaches, it might have marked a poignant end to a career. But Goffredo has carried on and now is closing in on career victory No. 300.

In his 18th season, Goffredo (297-152) is on pace to lead the Falcons (14-6) to the playoffs for the 11th consecutive time. Daughters Kristen and Kimberly are cheerleaders at Crescenta Valley, and his 11-year-old son, Jimmy, serves as ball boy.

Goffredo, who does the cooking, cleaning and laundry at home, says the family is holding together well. And he recently began dating again.

“People say that I’m doing better,” he said.

Goffredo admits he was close to quitting throughout his wife’s lengthy illness. But Kathy Goffredo would not allow that and neither would their children. Goffredo promised them he would continue. His love for the game carried him from there.

“It kept my mind off how miserable I was,” Goffredo said.

Nathan Sinning, a senior forward in his third season on the varsity, said the coach has not appeared to slow down, despite his personal trials.

“The first year, it was really hard for him,” Sinning said. “A lot of coaches had to help out and pick it up a little. But he’s still the same coach I’ve always known.

“He may seem like a mean person on the court because he gets so intense. But off the court, he’s one of the nicest people I know.”

Goffredo describes coaching as “part of my existence.”

“Some years you enjoy it more than others,” he said. “Some years you have some really special teams.”

And sometimes, you have some very difficult weeks.

Crescenta Valley was defeated twice this week, losing Pacific League games to Muir, 86-68, and Arcadia, 73-53. The losses dropped the Falcons, 2-3 in league play, to fourth place. Arcadia, Muir and Pasadena are tied for first at 4-1.

Compounding matters, Goffredo and the school were embarrassed when Muir players and coaches discovered racial epithets scribbled on their locker room blackboard at Crescenta Valley.

Crescenta Valley Principal Gary Talbert issued immediate apologies to Muir players, coaches and administrators, and a potentially volatile situation was defused. Talbert, a former principal and basketball coach at Muir, said he is investigating the matter.

Goffredo insisted the incident had nothing to do with basketball, his team or his players. Still, it cast his program in a bad light.

“It’s just an embarrassing thing that is a reflection on us--which is so wrong,” Goffredo said. “I don’t see how anybody can stoop to that level. We don’t accept that kind of thing.”

Goffredo, however, said he graciously will accept accolades for victory No. 300.

“Believe it or not, it’s a really big thing for me,” he said. “Usually, I don’t get into these things, but there are only a handful of coaches in the [Southern Section] who have 300. It’s a good feeling to know you’re in an elite group of people.”

*

The transition from football to basketball has meant a change of fortunes for Ryan Bowne and Todd Crane.

Bowne, a senior guard for Notre Dame, scored 25 points in Friday night’s 68-66 Mission League victory over St. Francis. Crane, a senior guard for La Canada, scored 24 in a 70-66 Rio Hondo League victory over Blair the same evening.

For Notre Dame, the victory improved the Knights’ record to 11-10, 3-3 in league play. Still, preseason hopes of keeping pace with powerful Harvard-Westlake (16-2, 6-0) are slipping away.

For La Canada, the victory improved the Spartans’ record to 16-5, 5-0 in league play, and was the team’s 46th consecutive league victory, dating to 1991.

“I have to give a lot of credit to our coaches,” Crane said. “There are a lot of good teams in the league, but we are so well-prepared.”

What a difference a couple of months make.

Last fall, Bowne passed for 2,096 yards and 26 touchdowns, leading Notre Dame to an 11-1 record, a third consecutive league title and the Southern Section Division III quarterfinals.

Crane, starting quarterback at La Canada, passed for only 570 yards and four touchdowns as the Spartans (5-5) finished fourth at 2-3 and failed to qualify for the Division VIII playoffs.

Both players plan to pursue football after high school, but neither has ruled out playing basketball in college.

Bowne is scheduled for a recruiting visit this week to Yale and has plans to visit Pennsylvania and Harvard.

Crane is planning to attend Ricks College, a junior college in Idaho, before transferring to Brigham Young.