Basketball makes a comeback in Colfax under Ginty

For Devin Ginty, the wins matter, but so do the packed gyms, the lines of kids playing knockout at halftime and the basketball hoops going up again in driveways around town. That's why this season's 23-9 record, a Sac-Joaquin Section semifinal appearance and a near-upset of top-seeded Chico in the CIF NorCal Regional playoffs meant something bigger for the Gold Mountain California News Media Small School Boys Basketball Coach of the Year. "It's a great honor," said Ginty, who returned to lead his alma mater in 2022. "To be here and rebuild the program to a highly competitive level has always been goal number one. Creating great relationships with the kids and the community along the way is what makes it great." The Falcons finished 10-4 in the Pioneer Valley League, good for third place, and reached 23 wins for their most since 2017-18. But the foundation of that success was laid well before this winter. After going 9-15 in his first season, Ginty has improved Colfax's win total every year, even while intentionally building tougher nonleague schedules to challenge his team. "That's always our goal, to be better than the year before," Ginty said. "Every single year we've scheduled a harder preseason. We pride ourselves on always being the smallest school at tournaments or games and still wanting to compete at a high level." That competitive standard showed in March, when No. 16 Colfax traveled north and pushed top-seeded Chico to the brink in a 66-60 NorCal first-round loss. Inside the program, the Falcons believed that level was coming. "In our locker room, we really knew what we were capable of," Ginty said. "It may have caught some other people by surprise, but it was cool to see these guys fulfill that." For Ginty, though, the deeper victory has been cultural. He has helped relaunch youth camps, restart a community youth program, bring back the alumni game and create more spaces for kids in town to play. "It brings me a lot of joy to hear people say Colfax is becoming a basketball town," Ginty said. "Whether we're winning championships or not, being able to walk around town and see a basketball in kids' hands, or more hoops up in people's yards, is really something to hang our hat on." That culture-building has been especially important at a small school, where enrollment and class sizes can fluctuate dramatically from year to year. This season, Colfax had just three seniors, two juniors and 16 sophomores in the program, making the sustained success even more impressive. Ginty said the long-term vision is to make varsity basketball at Colfax something local kids dream about in elementary school. "Playing varsity basketball at Colfax High School should be something every little kid in the Colfax area looks forward to for years growing up," he said. In many ways, the work continues a tradition passed down by legendary former coach Ron Pucci, whom Ginty played for and still leans on as a mentor. "My goal was to continue the traditions that made Colfax great, but also bring elements from the higher levels I've been fortunate to play and coach at," Ginty said. The result has been one of the program's best seasons in nearly a decade and an even stronger foundation for what comes next. "I'm really looking forward to next year," Ginty said. "We're going to try to take the competitiveness to the next level."