Doug Mitchell shared words of wisdom at Del Rey League boys basketball media day in early November.
“Coaching is getting young men to do things they don’t want to do,” he said.
Only someone that’s been coaching a long time can lace such a sentence. Mitchell has been around quite some time, entering his 36th year as a basketball coach at Bishop Montgomery. He’s won a lot of games, too.
The number is 800 to be exact, which puts Mitchell at No. 15 all-time in California history, after Bishop Montgomery defeated Palm Desert 78-37 Wednesday night.
“It just means I’ve been coaching a long time,” Mitchell said laughing.
Terron Williams scored 20 points and Kyle Sanders tallied 13 points and 16 rebounds to move the Knights to 2-0 this season, which is all Mitchell cares about.
“It’s nice, but I think the milestone will be something I’ll be proud of when I look back at it later,” he said. “I don’t think about it much right now. I’m pretty good at focusing on the moment, and we’re 2-0 and trying to get better.”
And there it is!!! Career win 800 for Coach Doug Mitchell. He is the 15th boys’ basketball coach in state history to reach 800 wins.
Knights 78 Palm Desert 37
Terron Williams 20, Kyle Sanders 13 pts 16 Rebs #knightpride @breezepreps @latsondheimer @CalHiSports @DamianCalhoun pic.twitter.com/ycFmWIF2iK— Bishop Montgomery Athletics (@knights_bmhs) November 21, 2024
Mitchell has had some very good teams in the past, most recently in 2017 when Bishop Montgomery won the CIF Southern Section Open Division title by way of taking down juggernauts like Sierra Canyon and Mater Dei with now-NBA players Marvin Bagley and Bol Bol. The Knights were led by Ethan Thompson and David Singleton.
“Yea, that was a nice run,” Mitchell said of that year.
Notching 800 wins is a big deal. Mitchell’s coaching peers in the Southland Gary McKnight (Mater Dei, 1,272 wins), Mike LeDuc (Damien, 1,076), Harvey Kitani (Rolling Hills Prep, 957) and Mat Hofman (La Canada, 816) are still going.
“I think we’re all lucky enough to have the health to keep going,” Mitchell said. “For me, I know as long as I still have the passion, I’ll keep going.”
When asked if Mitchell’s players did anything special for him after Wednesday night’s win … he laughed.
“I don’t think they even know.”
Harvard-Westlake 68, La Salle 36: Nik Khamenia scored 17 points. Dom Bentho notched a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Viewpoint 80, Hueneme 30: Luke Jacobs led the Patriots with 20 points.
Crescenta Valley 62, Royal 54: Vaugh Zargarian led the way with 34 points.
San Gabriel Academy 64, Saugus 60: Bryce Mejía led Saugus with 23 points in the defeat.
Arcadia 61, Covina 21: Noa Eteuati Edwards tallied 19 points and eight rebounds.
Crean Lutheran 73, Oakwood 44: Jacob Majok had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Hunter Caplan added nine points in his debut.
Palisades 74, Taft 52: Tommy Pickens led the Dolphins with 16 points.
Loyola 48, Trabuco Hills 46: Point guard Quincy Watson had 14 points in the victory.
Malibu 78, Teacher Tech 64: Dylan Goosen had 29 points and 15 assists. Tommy Cupp added a career-high 31 points. Keion White had 28 for TT.
Inglewood 76, Mayfair 51: Jason Crowe Jr. had 27 points.
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