The season opener for the Notre Dame Girls Basketball Team didn't exactly go the way Dave Pero Sr. would have liked, with a tough loss to Gates Chili, 42-33, but Pero couldn't have been prouder of his son.
Dave Perio Jr., was appointed the Gates Chili coach during the off-season, and after three years as an assistant to his father at Notre Dame, the younger Pero gets his first opportunity to run his own program.
"I've been happy for him since the day he got the job," said Pero Sr. "It's a great opportunity for him. It's his second win. He's 2-0. He's got a nice road ahead of him. Let's hope he keeps building and great things are going to happen."
Always intense on the sidelines, Pero Jr. was perhaps even a little more animated making his first appearance as a head coach in a gym where he played high school ball and helped the Lady Irish to a couple of championship seasons.
"Coming in here, seeing my brother on the other bench and my family here, and I've coached these girls on Notre Dame's team for three years, so I know every single one of them," Pero Jr. said. "I know they wanted to beat me as much as I wanted to win. I'm trying to build a program at Gates Chili, so a win at Gates is just as big for my program. I loved my time here, but unfortunately, I had to move on and I'm trying to do the best I can where I am now."
He said the win was bittersweet because he hates seeing his father lose, but he needed his girls to play winning basketball.
"My father is my mentor, one of my best friends," Pero Jr. said. "It was tough coaching against him."
Both coaches said the game was like watching twin teams battle on the hardwood.
"I teach the same things he does," Pero Jr. said. "Hard work, boxing out, diving on the floor for loose balls. Everything I know, I learned from him."
Both coaches are optimistic about their teams' prospects for 2015-16, even though they both have young teams. Pero Sr. said the loss was just a small setback. It doesn't derail the season.
"My expectations are high, even after a loss tonight," Pero Sr. said.
One roster change that makes Notre Dame a bit younger than expected this season is the departure of Shea Norton, a 6' 2" senior who was one of the area's dominant girls basketball players last season, who decided she would rather be a cheerleader than a hoops star. It's a change of heart Pero Sr. didn't want to discuss other than to say, "We're moving on."
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