Longtime coach Dave Ross gets the call

It arrived not long before Christmas, unwrapped in the form of a phone call.

It was a gift decades in the making for Dave Ross. The girls’ basketball coach who started slowly in Port Washington, then became a Cedarburg legend before returning to the Pirates will be inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.

“It was surprising, and you kind of think back. You go back to all the years and all the changes of the game and all the coaches you’ve gone against and all the great players,” Ross said.

“You don’t get to be in the game as long as I have unless you have good players and parents and a community to work with. I’ve been blessed with family support, my daughters and their friends playing for me. It’s just been a lot of fun. To get to an honor like this is beyond whatever you would think.”

Ross is up to 464 victories after adding two last week, keeping the Pirates in second place in the Glacier Trails Conference.

He started more than 30 years ago in Port as the assistant boys’ coach before getting the girls’ head coaching job.

“My first three years we had seven wins and 56 losses,” he said.

Ross was ready to hang it up after those early struggles, but rival coach Bob Maronde of Grafton encouraged him to stick with it.

Better players came through, and he led Port to its only state tournament appearances in program history in 1998 and 2000.

“The start wasn’t an indication of where we’re at today. I always say I was humbled early and I’m OK with that because I can feel for others who work hard and struggle,” Ross said. “I’ve reached out to other coaches in similar situations to help them. It makes you a better person.”

Ross, a 1978 Port High grad who starred in three sports in high school, won more than 70 games as the Port girls’ coach in his first stint, then more than 300 with Cedarburg, including two trips to state and a runner-up finish in 2015.

He returned to Port last year and is already making an impact, leading the Pirates to their first winning season since 2010-11.

The game has largely changed in Ross’ career, in part due to technology. He remembers being told to meet someone in a blue car at a gas station at 9 a.m. on a Saturday to get tape on a future opponent. What sounded shady ended with the two coaches diagramming plays on the hood of a car.

Ross will be inducted at a banquet in Wisconsin Dells on Sept. 27.

He didn’t tell his current players about his career honor, but a couple found out.

“It’s amazing,” Delaney Rauch said of the accomplishment. “He’s very good.”

Savanna Miller said it’s exciting.

“I think that he brings a lot of energy to our team and he really picks us up. I think that’s super cool. He’s a great coach,” she said.

Port is 9-5 overall. The Pirates took a 35-20 halftime lead and beat Kewaskum, 64-45, at home on Jan. 13.

Norah Merow had 18 points and 18 rebounds. Miller had 20 points. Rauch had 12 points and eight rebounds.

Last Friday at home, Port beat Plymouth, 45-30, at home. They controlled the pace of the game to slow down the Panthers’ top scorers.

Miller had 17 points. Merow had 10 points and 15 rebounds. Rauch had 12 points and six rebounds.

Ross praised Grace Riley in both games for holding the Indians’ and Panthers’ top scorers to zero baskets.

“She’s only a sophomore and she’s doing a lot of really good things that many people wouldn’t notice,” he said.

Port plays at Sheboygan South on Thursday, Jan. 22, hosts Brookfield Central on Saturday, Jan. 24, and plays at West Bend West on Tuesday, Jan. 27.

Another coaching milestone

Grafton had its own coaching honor last week as coach Matt D’Amato reached his 100th career victory since joining the team in 2020.

“That was cool,” D’Amato said.
It just means I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

The Black Hawks won at Slinger, 63-45.

Cali Tagliapietra had 19 points and seven rebounds. Brynlee Hildebrand had 12 points and five rebounds. Ava Dotson had nine points. Lily Verplancke had eight points and six rebounds. Emily Sewell hit two three-pointers off the bench.

Grafton, 3-2 and in third place in the North Shore Conference and 13-3 overall, was to play at West Bend East on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The Hawks host Cedarburg on Friday, Jan. 23, and Hartford on Tuesday, Jan. 27.