Mourning Those Who Contributed Much

Becky Hodos waited about an hour before she called her husband, Chris.

“I know. I saw it,” he said when he answered the phone.

“I think you should take it,” Becky responded.

The two were discussing a Facebook post in October in which Pittsford announced it was looking for a varsity girls basketball head coach.

“They posted it on the Pittsford Facebook page at 8:30 in the morning,” Hodos said. “I had eight or nine calls by 10 o’clock. Then my wife called.”

Chris Hodos indeed applied, interviewed and got the job as the Pittsford girls basketball coach, returning to a job he thrived before stepping away five years ago. The results have been eerily similar to before.

The Wildcats are 21-0, ranked among the top Division 4 teams in the state and about to start what Hodos hopes is another long tournament run.

“I really didn’t know what to expect from the girls,” Hodos said. “I’ve been away from it. I wasn’t paying very close attention.”

Everyone is paying attention to Pittsford now. The Wildcats have already clinched the Southern Central Athletic Association East championship and are one of just two undefeated teams remaining in Division 4. They are the top seed in next week’s District at Reading.

“There is little doubt having Chris back on the sideline was a good thing,” Pittsford athletic director Mike Burger said. “Our community loves our kids and the effort they put into everything they do. Chris brings energy every day, so I know they are happy with the swagger he brings.

“(Plus) I thought it was good for him,” Burger said. “He just seemed a little withdrawn. Coaching helped bring his fire back.”

Hodos stepped aside after the 2018-19 season. His son was about to play college baseball in northwest Ohio, and he planned on relaxing and watching baseball. He had been coaching football, basketball and baseball at Pittsford.

“No one believed me when I said I was stepping away,” he said.

The Wildcats went to three Class D Finals in a row from 2015-2017 under Hodos, winning championships in 2016 and 2017. If Pittsford defeats Waldron on Thursday, it will be the sixth time in his nine seasons as head coach that the Wildcats have gone unbeaten during the regular season.

Pittsford has had some close calls this season but has found a way to come back even from double-digit deficits in multiple games.

“When you have the best player on the court every night, that helps,” Hodos said.

His best player is Grand Valley State University signee Ava Mallar. She is a four-year starter who is just shy of 1,600 career points, and played significant roles as Pittsford won 18 games each of the last three seasons.

“I honestly was pretty shocked on how well we are doing,” Mallar said. “We lost two seniors, one of which put up a lot of points. I wasn’t expecting this. It’s been awesome. Beating Reading after losing to them twice last year was really good.”

Mallar was a student manager for Pittsford and Hodos years ago.

“I was the manager when he coached my older sister,” she said. “He worked well with our last coach (Aaron Davis). So, when he came, the expectations were the same and practices were sort of the same.”

Hodos also was familiar with Mallar in another way. His day job is as a salesman at Frank Beck Chevrolet in Hillsdale. He sold Mallar a car a couple of years ago.

“He has a good relationship with our whole family,” Mallar said.

Hodos is highly complimentary of his lead scorer.

“She’s the real deal,” he said. “Against Saline (Washtenaw) Christian she had 17 points in the fourth quarter and we came back from 10 points down. She had 27 of our 37 against Reading.”

Mallar said she elevated her game against Washtenaw Christian.

“There’s a point where I know where I have to step up,” she said. “The best part of my game is when I am driving to the basket and making people guard me and creating shots for my teammates. I knew I had to take over if we were going to pull it off.”

Mallar had a triple-double earlier this season and came within two assists of a quadruple-double.

“I honestly thought I had a horrible game, then I found out I had a triple-double. I guess it wasn’t too bad,” she said.

While Hodos has built the team around his star senior, he is also building for the future. Two Wildcats starters are freshmen and two more freshmen come off the bench. He said he is planning to stay at least five years this time around.

“Mike (Burger) asked me if this was just for one year,” he said. “I said, ‘No, I’ll stay five.’ I might stay longer. We’ll see.”

Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Chris Hodos (left of scorer’s table) coaches his Pittsford girls basketball team this season. (Middle) Ava Mallar sets up for a free throw against Reading. (Photos by Joe Flaherty/Hillsdale Daily News.)