Hudak hits Mustang milestone
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
PORTAGE -- There was little drama in whether Portage girls basketball coach Lance Hudak would pick up his 300th career win a quarter into the Lady Mustangs' 62-26 win over West Shamokin on Wednesday at Len Chappell Gymnasium, but the margin of victory was appropriate given the full circle Hudak's program has made under his watch the past 22 years.
"The first two years, we won one game," Hudak said. "We were regularly getting trounced by Berlin, North Star and Conemaugh Township. About the third year, Ed Danel from North Star told me I had to get the elementary program going, and it was at that time I started reaching out to people in the community who had daughters, and we got the girls together around 2004 and put together an elementary school program. That first team we started was in first or second grade and had Paisley Zatek, Emily Chobany and Olivia McCabe, and they started playing everywhere."
Those players eventually led Portage to its first-ever PIAA semifinal appearance in 2015, and the Lady Mustangs nearly went all the way to Hershey before losing to Old Forge in double overtime.
Building up to that point was a long process for Hudak and Portage, especially when it seemed like he would get to 300 losses much quicker than 300 wins.
"It took nine years to get my first winning record," Hudak said. "My eighth year, we ended up 9-15 and didn't make the playoffs. Some people got together and thought Portage needed to go a different direction with the girls basketball program. There was a board meeting, and all these parents who knew the program and what we had coming up at the junior high and elementary level told them things were going to start turning. That night at the meeting, there were about 100 people that showed up to support me. The next year, we went 14-10 and made the playoffs, and from there we have sustained it with 14 straight winning seasons."
Even after the winning started, the road wasn't always easy. Portage nearly won its first District 6 championship in 2014 and led in the final seconds of the title game against Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic before Lady Marauder freshman Macy Adams hit a nearly half-court 3-pointer to defeat the Lady Mustangs at the buzzer.
"It's been hard," Hudak said. "That was the loss that started it all. We asked ourselves, can we still go on? We had worked so hard to get there. The year before, (Guilfoyle) had really kicked our butt by 20 or so. We got back and knew we had a shot that year. For that to happen, we wondered, 'why us' after all we had done to get to that point then to lose on a shot like that. We lost that game, and it affected us so much as a team and a community. When we showed up the following Saturday against Berlin, it's like we never got over that loss to Guilfoyle. We didn't play well at all, but I have learned that the sun always comes up. As bad as a night is, as bad of a loss you take, you can always turn the page and move on. That's how I have always approached those difficult times."
The next year, Portage was in the PIAA semifinals, and a younger generation of girls found their heroes.
"When I was in elementary school, I would walk over here and watch the varsity practice," Ashlyn Hudak, Lance's daughter and a senior on this season's team, said. "I would stay for the whole two-hour practice, and I always looked up to those girls. I loved them and loved their work ethic. I knew I wanted to lead a team like Olivia McCabe and Emily Chobany and work hard like they did to make my senior year special. We all saw how they did it, which has really helped us."
Seven years after that PIAA semifinal appearance, Ashlyn Hudak was among the Lady Mustangs playing back in the semifinal, this time against Kennedy Catholic in the 2022 state playoffs. A Portage team that had lost three players to major knee injuries, including one of Hudak's other daughters, Maddy, battled valiantly before falling in the final minutes.
"Even though they were losses, the semifinal games," Lance Hudak said. "They were filled with happiness and despair. Two years ago, the Kennedy Catholic game, they had beaten everyone by 30 or 40 points to that point, and what we did with eight healthy girls and the adversity we went through to get there meant a lot. The first district championship when we moved up to 5A against Hollidaysburg and two years ago, we were underdogs again against Williamsburg and won it. So many of the other games, like beating Union in the PIAA quarterfinals in overtime with Ashlyn and Ari (Wozniak) hitting big shots were so memorable. Our first state game in the first PIAA semifinal run was against Tussey Mountain and a great coach in Todd Gates at UPJ. They were loaded, and we beat them in overtime."
Portage started that entire process over again Wednesday night during its win over West Shamokin when third through fifth graders joined the Lady Mustangs starters running through introductions before the game.
"The impact that we have made not just on this school, but the community -- these girls are really the little darlings of the town come winter," Lance Hudak said. "The support we get, just not turnouts at games, but the support, donations and everything the parents and community does for this team is great."
During his 22 seasons compiling a record of 300-231, Hudak has coached three daughters.
"All three of my daughters have had different abilities and mannerisms," Lance Hudak said. "It has been fun but yet difficult. The closeness I believe it has brought us between the good and bad times, has been worth it. I never got into coaching to coach my daughters. I coached the varsity level 14 years before my daughters even played for me. But it's something I would never give up."
His youngest daughter helped coordinate a celebration of her father with balloons, signs and a posterboard after she led the Lady Mustangs with 15 points by hitting on all five of her 3-point attempts in the first half.
"It's fun," Ashlyn Hudak said. "Sometimes I can get annoyed, but it's fun to go home and break down film and talk about it. The constructive criticism, as much as I don't want to hear it sometimes, it really does help. No matter what, he'll always be my No. 1 supporter, and I love sharing the love of basketball with him."
With the victory, Portage improved to 15-1 and is in line to be one of the top seeds in the District 6 Class 2A playoff field.
"It's so gratifying that the hard work so many people have done has led to this point," Lance Hudak said. "Fourteen straight winning seasons. It has been developing these girls and developing from within, learning our system and just getting better and better with it. Because of that is what you saw tonight. We played our style of offense on the offensive and defensive side and won big. What happened here tonight is a culmination of what we have aimed for in this program. I don't do this for myself. This is for girls basketball at Portage and our community. I'm so proud of that."
WEST SHAMOKIN (26): Keirn 0 0-0 0, Talmadge 1 0-0 2, Stewart 5 1-3 11, Jordan 3 2-7 8, Young 0 0-0 0, McIlwain 0 0-0 0, George 2 1-3 5. Totals -- 11 4-13 26.
PORTAGE (62): Chobany 3 0-0 6, Hudak 5 0-0 15, Cam. Burkett 3 0-0 6, B. Bednarski 2 2-2 6, J. Burkett 4 2-2 12, Noll 0 1-2 1, Bagby 0 1-2 1, Myher 4 1-1 10, Cas. Burkett 0 0-0 0, K. Bednarski 1 0-0 2, Irvin 1 0-0 3, Offman 0 0-0 0, Stancovich 0 0-0 0, B. Burkett 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 23 7-9 62.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
West Shamokin 8 6 6 6 -- 26
Portage 27 17 10 12 -- 62
3-point goals: West Shamokin: none; Portage 9 (Hudak 5, J. Burkett 2, Myher, Irvin).
Records: West Shamokin (4-10); Portage (15-1).
Officials: Derrick Soellner, Jim Cushion, Keith Redfoot.
JV: Portage, 33-3. High scorers--Kendall Bednarski, P, 18; Faith Spencer, WS, 2.