Catonsville’s Mike Mohler won his 600th game coaching high school girls basketball when the Comets defeated host Western Tech, 52-30 on Dec. 22, under unpredictable circumstances.
Mohler’s squad was on its way to possibly reaching the milestone three days earlier when it faced New Town, but the game was halted because of a power outage.
Mohler’s wife, Bridget, had to stash away the signs and banners in anticipation of the historic event.
“She kept them in a bag and she said, ‘Eventually, we’re able to use these,’” Mohler said. “We finally got to use them at Western Tech and people were telling her to bring them out like midway through the fourth quarter and she said ‘No, No, not until we’re sure’. They came out with about a minute to play and it was pretty neat to look at ”
That wasn’t the only thing that made the coach emotional. Former players, several who also made the trip to New Town, were there for the milestone.
“At Western Tech we had Shamika [Williams] and Becky Clipp and Shelby Polk and Deb Milani and Kayla Gibson, Rachel Schwaab and Maddie Hunt,” said Mohler, whose daughter, Meghann, and son, Brenndan, were there as well as six grandkids.
“It was just great to see them. It was fantastic to see some of the old alumni up there,” Mohler said.
Ironically, the victory came against a Western Tech team coached by Ebonee Dixon. Dixon played on the Wolverines’ 2013 state championship squad which Mohler remembers well.
“I never let Western Tech forget that I beat them that year when they won the state championship,” Mohler said. “[Dixon] is a great kid. I’m coaching against all these kids that I coached against as players.”
After going out for dinner after the game Mohler returned home to a complete surprise.
“The girls went in and just totally decorated our house,” Mohler said. “It was so neat that my wife said I might keep this up for a while. They had streamers and signs and probably 100 pictures, if not more, just taped all over my walls and windows. It was unbelievable. Some of those pictures go way, way back.
“One of the main perpetrators was [former player] Emily Bartlett, now playing at CCBC Catonsville, who has been my unofficial, unpaid assistant,” Mohler said. “She does a lot of great things for us. She has been a godsend. It’s been so great to have her still around the program.”
Mohler started his coaching career with one season at Seton Keough in 1993-94. He went to Catonsville for the 1994-95 season and is in his 32nd season there.
He doesn’t remember his 100 or 200th win, but remembers numbers 300, 400 and 500.
The 500th win came on March 1, 2018, one season after the Comets won the state championship. It came in a 56-54 regional semifinal victory at Howard. Senior Jasmine Dickey, who later was a standout at the University of Delaware and played in the WNBA, scored 25 points and sealed the win with a steal before the buzzer.
“I still think that that was the best high school game I’ve ever been involved in,” said Mohler, whose squad lost in the state final that season. “It was two teams playing at an extremely high level with really good players.”
The Comets (5-2) have won won five straight games, including two over Edmondson-Westside and Tuscarora, in a tournament two days after Christmas.
He currently has 602 victories, joining St. Frances’ Jerome Shelton, Lin James, Teresa Waters and Lee Rogers as coaches with over 600 wins in Maryland state high school girls basketball.
Catonsville head coach Mike Mohler shouts instructions to his players during the 4A girls basketball state championship game won by the Comets in 2018.
“Everybody asks, How long are you going to keep doing this and I laugh?,” said Mohler, who turns 74 on Tuesday. “I don’t know. I love this team. I love these players and they are still relatively young, I don’t know as long as I’m healthy and I can do it. It’s neat to be one of five, rarified air. Being in the group of five ain’t so bad.”
Reaching the milestone also takes a burden off the team.
“I’m just so glad that this is all kind of behind us,” Mohler said. “My girls were getting stressed. To do this with this group was pretty special because I really, really love this team. They are just neat kids and what we do in basketball is secondary to the relationship I have with these kids.”
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