In American major sports, the number 300 has been a mark of exclusivity. There are only four head coaches in the history of the National Football League to have accomplished 300 wins. Only 24 pitchers in the over 150-year history of Major League Baseball have won 300 or more games.
At the local prep basketball level, Pitman High’s Harvey Marable eclipsed the iconic benchmark, claiming his 300th victory as the team’s head coach last Friday with their 57-52 win over Enochs.
Marable, nor his players, knew of the milestone until earlier this week. On Tuesday, during the middle of one of his classes, Marable was surprised with a large, green cake, fit with “300” written in white frosting.
“It came as a surprise,” Marable admitted. “I was unaware about the number of wins at Pitman High. It also made me think about the support I've received here and the number of players that contributed to the winning outcome. I have to thank my coaches through the years who advised me and counseled me on this journey.”
Marable has led the Pride’s varsity program for each of its 21 seasons. The Pride won again on Wednesday, 46-44 against Gregori, and now sports a 301-239-1 at the school. He has more than 400 career wins as a varsity head coach when counting those from his time with Hughson’s girls’ squad from 1995 to 2000.
“The one glaring fact about this number centers around I've been doing this a long time,” Marable joked.
While Marable had a kick out of learning of the milestone (and the cake), his current roster is what is mostly on his mind.
The Enochs game was the Pride’s first since being beaten by rival Turlock 56-47 on Jan. 22, a game they were heavily favored in as they came in with a 19-1 overall record. The win over the Eagles, led by 23 points from junior Cole Martin and another 19 from all-time leading scorer Avery Sanchez, gave the Pride a 3-1 record at the halfway point of league play.
Sanchez recorded a double-double with a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds against the Jaguars on Wednesday.
Gregori also came into Wednesday’s slate with a matching record, and entered Friday at 3-2 and in third place. The Eagles, meanwhile, dismantled Downey 63-43 on Wednesday and remain tied with the Pride at 4-1 as leaders of the CCAL.
Pitman and Enochs played Downey and Modesto, respectively, on Friday night — teams who have a combined 5-37 record this season, leading many to anticipate that a tie will remain atop the standings into next week. Final scores were not available by press time.
The Pride will travel to play Modesto on Wednesday. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, battled with Gregori on Friday night in a battle of 3-2 teams and are slated to face the Eagles on Wednesday.
