RIDGWAY — Tony Allegretto knew years ago that the 2021-22 boys basketball season would be his last as head coach at Ridgway.
What he couldn’t have prepared for, however, was the storybook ending that added an exclamation point to his final campaign.
Allegretto’s Elkers played deep into the postseason, riding an eight-game win streak to the PIAA quarterfinals. At the center of their run was Allegretto’s son, Domenic, whose final year at Ridgway coincided with his father’s.
When Tony’s older son, Daunte, graduated in 2019, he left the program with league and district championships before his career ended in the state quarters. This year, Tony’s mission was to provide the same parting gifts for Dom.
When the father-son duo looked up after their final game, they had achieved each of those goals. The culmination of their final season, however — and its similarities to Daunte’s — were more, perhaps, than they could have imagined.
THIS TIME, there was no doubt.
Tony Allegretto had speculated over which contest might be his last on Ridgway’s home court, but as the Elkers continued to win, they were rewarded with more home games.
The 18-year veteran made sure to soak in the final moments of an Allegheny Mountain League semifinal victory over Johnsonburg and a District 9 Class AA quarterfinal victory over Smethport. When the Elkers prepared to host Cambridge Springs in the first round of the PIAA tournament, however, Tony and his son knew that this would be it.
“Dan (Park) and I talked in school that day,” Dom said. “We can’t lose our last game on our home court. Everyone on the team knew it — we’re not losing this game, not in front of a home crowd. That kind of translated into the game. It was always in the back of my mind that I’m not losing this game. I’ll do whatever I have to.”
Fresh off a run through the District 9 postseason, Ridgway was playing confidently as it prepared to host District 10’s fourth-place finisher. Tony started to feel the team’s momentum building in February, and when the Elkers pieced together a masterful victory over Elk County Catholic for the AML title, they appeared to be peaking at an optimal time.
“Our turning point occurred somewhere in late January,” the elder Allegretto said. “I challenged the guys all together and I challenged some of the individuals.
“Do you like where we’re heading? Do you like what’s going on around you or do you want to do something special? At that point, I started to feel like we could put something together like Daunte’s team.”
The 2019 Elkers — led, in large part, by Daunte, a senior guard — defeated ECC to win the AML before going on to win a District 9 title. Dom’s team did the same, thumping Smethport at home before stopping back-to-back Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference powers in Karns City and Redbank Valley.
The Elkers were out-sized in the latter two matchups, but not out-played physically, as they rode Dom Allegretto, Park and company to a Class AA title. Their reward? A final game for the Allegrettos on their home floor.
“We thought we went out on a winning note, but now we need to defend our home court again,” Tony said. “We were fairly confident going into that game if we could turn them over, but that was the question.”
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS jumped on Ridgway early, taking a stunning 15-2 lead. The Elkers battled back to cut the deficit to single digits by halftime, however, and built a five-point lead with four minutes remaining.
A 7-0 CS run prompted late drama, and after the teams traded blows, Ridgway found itself trailing by a point with 40 seconds to go. Jack Benninger took the ball up the floor for Ridgway, aiming to construct a game-winning offensive set.
“I tried to back cut my defender but couldn’t get open. I went for a handoff, but they denied the handoff,” Dom said. “I ended up getting a second handoff attempt, going back the other way. (CS) helped over on (Park), and that just gave me an opportunity for a layup so I took it.”
Exhibiting the craftiness that made him a dribble-drive nightmare for defenders, Allegretto scored at the rim, giving Ridgway a lead it wouldn’t surrender.
CS then inbounded the ball to top scorer Nate Held, but Allegretto stripped it away, winning possession back for the Elkers.
“I just saw a chance to give my team another opportunity to stay alive and extend the lead,” he said. “The ball was in the air and, from playing safety in football, that’s a dream.”
Once his team was in the bonus, Dom sank a pair of free throws that iced a 47-44 victory. Headed to the PIAA second round, the Elkers had not only defended their home court once more, but did so with an ending that felt as though it came from a Hollywood script.
“In the flow of the game, I didn’t really realize how big of a shot that was in my career until I watched it over and over again, hundreds of times,” Dom said. “That game really got the community going behind us and really caught everyone’s attention. The next day at school, I had kids coming up to me that I had never talked to before saying, ‘Nice win last night, can’t wait for the next one.’ It was unbelievable; it was awesome. It felt even bigger than it was.”
Allegretto finished with 17 points that night. Much of his impact came in the second half, as he’d picked up two early fouls that relegated him to the bench for much of the first.
“Dom was able to really slice up their defense and get open shots for (Park) and (Benninger),” Tony said. “He played one of the best games of his career, especially in that second half.”
Ridgway went on to defeat Greensburg Central Catholic in the second round, setting up a quarterfinal with Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Although the Elkers hadn’t yet seen the District 7 champions, they had been on their radar for months prior.
“One of our goals is to pick out a team that we think is the best in the West, and that’s who we’re going to make take us out,” Tony Allegretto said. “We were talking about OLSH right from the beginning of the year.”
OLSH, the two-time defending state champion, carried a 68-game winning streak into its quarterfinal against Ridgway. The Elkers were scheduled to battle the Chargers on a court known well by the Allegrettos — Oil City High School.
IN MARCH of 2019, Daunte’s Elkers won 14 consecutive games on their way to the PIAA quarterfinals.
They defeated Sewickley Academy in the first round of the state tournament before edging Wilmington, 42-38, to set up a quarterfinal against OLSH. That game, a Ridgway loss which ended the only season in which Tony, Daunte and Dom Allegretto populated the same Elker roster — was played at Oil City.
OLSH took care of the 2022 Elkers, claiming a 54-27 decision on its way to a third-consecutive state title. When they did, things came full circle for the Allegrettos.
Dom and Daunte each had their AML championship. They each had their District 9 championship. Now, their careers would end on the same floor.
“It’s weird to look at now that it’s over,” Dom said. “Being in the gym with every team that has come up through since I was born and could walk. I wouldn’t have wanted it to go any other way.”
The parallels between Daunte and Dom’s senior years didn’t stop there — each lost to ECC in the Elk County Holiday Tournament before getting revenge in the AML title game. Daunte’s team avenged an early-season loss to Coudersport in the district final, while Dom’s avenged a 2021 district playoff loss to Karns City by beating the Gremlins in the district semis.
“We put a lot of work into that ECC game, and when we won that, we said, alright — here it goes, it’s going to be just like Daunte’s year again,” Tony said. “We just need to find a way to get into that (district) championship and find a way to get back to the state playoffs. And everything just worked out.”
THE BRAND Tony Allegretto developed at Ridgway is commonly known by two words — Elker basketball.
Defined by defense and a methodical, strategic approach, Ridgway wore down its opponents over 18 seasons that saw Allegretto compile a 338-184 record.
“Our system and the way we do things, the preparation that our coaching staff and the kids put into it, it seems to work out,” Tony said. “I remember back when Daunte was a senior, I said I’ve got to win a championship with both kids on the team.”
Since his early years with the program, Tony suspected the end of his tenure may coincide with his younger son’s graduation. As years passed, he reaffirmed that suspicion.
“I knew this was going to be my last year, I think, when Domenic was born,” Tony said with a laugh. “I always said, as long as I can coach my kids, I’ll continue coaching until they’re done. We had actually been counting down the last eight years when Domenic came through.”
Winning, of course, is fun. The endless hours of preparation and stress that go into leading a successful program, however, will not be missed by Allegretto.
“It’s a lot of work,” he said. “I know I’ll miss the games, but game days were miserable for me. The anxiety of leading up to what was going to happen and how things were going to work — Did I prepare enough? Is it going to work? If you’ve seen me coach, I get pretty tense, and a lot of that came out of the anxiety leading up to those games and just wanting to win for the team.
“You add the last six years since I had one of my boys on the varsity team, I put the extra pressure on myself because I wanted those guys to have the experience that Dom had this year.”
Allegretto will miss the offseason and plans to stay involved with open gyms and preparation for next winter. While not coaching, he’ll have more time to watch his sons’ collegiate athletic careers — Daunte plays basketball at Pitt-Johnstown while Dom is Geneva-bound to play football.
“You always remember the little things like team dinners and preparing together,” Dom said. “I’ll never forget winning the championships, and then having a home state playoff game in front of a huge crowd.”
Rough patches in-season, Tony said, will happen naturally. The playoff runs he and his children embarked upon, however, made them champions for life.
“I wanted them both to look back on their senior year and have great memories,” Tony said. “We can all look back on it fondly and, someday, maybe tell my grandchildren about what we did together.”
(Jeff Uveino, Bradford Publishing Company assistant group sports editor, can be reached at juveino@bradfordera.com)
