Major milestone on horizon for longtime Middle coach

Posted: January 5th 2025

John Leahy, just one win away from 400 for his career as Middle Township High School girls basketball coach, roams the sideline during a recent game at the Boardwalk Basketball Classic.

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

In March 2020, Manchester Township hosted Middle Township in the South Jersey Group II championship game.

About an hour prior to the game, Manchester coach Dave Beauchemin talked with a few media members. He was asked about scouting all the teams in the section, since Manchester, although grouped into South Jersey, isn’t located in the traditional South Jersey area.

“It can be tough because we don’t see those teams a lot in the regular season,” Beauchemin said. “But I can always count on one thing every year – you’re going to have to deal with Middle Township at some point deep in the playoffs.”

It was a high compliment paid to Middle’s program, which has been led by John Leahy for more than two decades now. In his 22nd season as head coach, Middle has become one of the most consistently competitive girls basketball programs not only in the Cape-Atlantic League but also across South Jersey.

And at some point soon – it could be as early as Tuesday against Wildwood Catholic – those involved in the program will get to enjoy a major milestone for its leader.

Leahy, in his 22nd season as coach, enters Tuesday’s game with a career record of 399-162. Whenever Middle gets its next victory, Leahy would become just the fourth girls basketball coach in CAL history to win at least 400 career games. Wildwood Catholic’s Steve DiPatri (581 and counting), Wildwood’s Dave Troiano (433 in the CAL, 682 total) and Ocean City’s Paul Baruffi (429) are the others.

Leahy was recently asked what the milestone means to him. He believes it’s a reflection of all involved in the program, from players to assistant coaches to school administrators. He gave a special mention to longtime assistant coaches Brandee Day and Brynn Caraballo.

“This is not about me,” he said quickly. “It’s more about the entire coaching staff and all the kids we’ve gotten to coach over the years. When it happens, it happens. It’ll be nice. But right after that, we’ll be ready to turn the page and hopefully go on to win a championship. The biggest thing is, you don’t have any kind of success unless you have good kids that are willing to work hard to get better, and we’ve been blessed to have a lot of great kids.”

Under Leahy, Middle has certainly won and competed for its share of championships. The Lady Panthers have reached the South Jersey title game 10 times under Leahy, winning three times, including each of the last two seasons. Middle has also appeared in the CAL title game five times under Leahy, winning twice. There have been numerous regular-season CAL conference or division titles as well.

Leahy is a lifelong basketball person. He was a standout player at Wildwood Catholic and later Middle, scoring more than 2,000 career points before graduating from Middle in 1990. He went on to a productive career at Division I Seton Hall before embarking on a nearly 10-year overseas professional career, mostly in Ireland and England. He then returned to his alma mater to coach.

Off to a 7-1 start after Saturday’s 14-point win over Ocean City, Middle is again among the contenders for CAL and South Jersey titles. That may be one of the reasons why Leahy doesn’t want a lot of fanfare over his 400th career win, whenever it may come.

“I’m not really thinking big picture or thinking about any kind of milestone,” he said recently. “We have to focus on getting better every day. Sure, it’s a big number. More than anything, I think it says I’ve been at this a long time. I’m just super proud of the program and everyone we’ve had involved in it.”