He's been here before. Now the legendary Gary Sutton is a guiding voice for Central York
It was almost four decades ago, but Jeff Hoke hasn't gotten over it.
Central York's head basketball coach was a star guard for a Trinity team confident it would reach the PIAA Class 2A championship game in 1987. The Shamrocks were facing a Columbia squad they had beaten by 12 points in the District 3 semifinals.
But Columbia head coach Gary Sutton knew what adjustment to make. He instructed his players to foul anyone but Hoke after the senior gave Trinity a four-point lead in the final three minutes. The Shamrocks started missing fouls shots, and Columbia won at the buzzer.
The Crimson Tide won the state title three days later.
"And he hasn't let it go for 37 years," Sutton said with a laugh about his protege. "He reminds me every time I see him and I'm like, 'Give it up already.'"
Now Hoke and Sutton are competing for a state title together.
The Central York boys' basketball team (28-3) will play District 11's Parkland (26-5) for the PIAA Class 6A title 8 p.m. Saturday at Hershey's Giant Center. The Panthers are trying to become the first YAIAA school to win a state basketball title in the largest classification — despite finishing just fifth in the District 3 tournament.
Central York is loaded with talent and has an experienced coach in Hoke, but the Panthers also have an additional voice of wisdom behind the scenes. Sutton, a Hall of Fame basketball coach and longtime popular radio host at WSBA, has been serving as an assistant this season.
"He's the angel on my shoulder," Hoke said. "He's talking me off the ledge. He's keeping me calm. He's really helped me focus when I was ready to pack it in and too frustrated to come out of a tailspin.
"He helps me get back to the task at hand."
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A Northeastern High School grad, Sutton is a household name in York County and has extensive coaching experience over the past five decades. He's led nationally-renown AAU programs and served as the boys' head coach at Susquehannock and girls' head coach at his alma mater in addition to multiple stints at Columbia.
But he hadn't coached for five seasons and last coached boys in 1990. Now he's trying to help the Panthers do what his Columbia team did in 1987 — shake off a disappointing district loss and win a state title.
"I just try to be the sage old guy in the room," said Sutton, who turned 73 on Tuesday. "It's fun for me just to teach again and add whatever I can to help our team. The kids are just wonderful to be around."
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Becoming 'a second dad' to the Panthers
Sutton was worried his coaching ideas might not work with this generation.
He would frequently see Hoke at basketball games while serving as a cable television announcer and accepted an invitation from the coach to observe a few Central York contests at the end of last season. He didn't expect it to turn into an assistant coaching gig.
But Sutton learned — as many others have — that Central York's coach is a difficult person to say no to.
"He called me and asked me to coach with him," he said. "And when you get done talking with Jeff you're out of breath. He just has so much excitement and enthusiasm.
"And some of the stuff I've run still works a little bit."
Sutton's main role with Central York has been coaching defense. Hoke will be the first to admit that's an area he's received criticism in over the years. The Panthers play an up-temp style on offense, and Sutton has tried to help the Panthers tap into that aggression on the other end of the court.
But the 73-year-old has also served a motivator and mentor to some of the team's most talented players — particularly junior Ben Rill. The 6-foot-8 forward has faced enormous expectations since returning to Central York from Westtown prep school in 2022 and is often subjected to double-teams and hard fouls from opponents.
Sutton has helped Rill navigate those challenges mentally.
"That's my guy. He's been on me since our first practice," Rill said after scoring 28 points in Tuesday's semifinal win over Reading. "He's almost like my second dad. He tells me to continue to push. Each practice we go a step further. We have such a strong bond. He's made me the player I am right now."
Sutton said he isn't sure if Central York's players are aware of his resume or not.
He thinks it's better that way.
"They know some of it, but it's not important," Sutton said. "All that's important is having respect. There've been a couple moments I've needed to say, 'Hey guys, here's where we are. After 43 years I know something.' But I don't worry too much about that. And these kids want to win bad."
'I'm so proud of him:' Making adjustments with his protege
Sutton has looked a bit different during Central's state playoff run.
For most of the season, he stood out on a bench full of orange and black due to his signature navy blue suit. But he's traded that for a casual Central York tracksuit in recent weeks.
"I started wearing this during the (PIAA first round) Garnett Valley game," he said with a chuckle. "I felt we had to switch some stuff up."
That's not the only change Sutton has suggested.
After Central's stunning 66-65 upset loss to Red Lion, he met with Hoke. He told the head coach he thought the Panthers needed to start full-court pressing more.
Their first consolation game was against Central Dauphin — a team they beat, 74-71, in the regular season. They beat the Rams, 81-62, in the rematch.
Central has beaten opponents by an average score of 72-59 in the state playoffs.
"Could I see this run coming? Yes I could," Sutton said. "We changed a lot of things after the Red Lion loss. We needed to get back to getting after people. And Jeff bought into that.
"That was all (Hoke). He really buckled down and got the kids working on things every day so we're not having the lapses we sometimes had during the season."
Sutton has been a head coach. He knows nobody wants an assistant undermining them. But he thinks he's found a great working relationship with the former player he schemed against 37 years ago.
He's glad he gets to compete for another state title with Hoke by his side.
"I said to Jeff: 'Last time just one of us got to go. Now it's us together,'" Sutton said. "I'm so proud of (Hoke). We talked about getting to the Giant Center, and we just did it the hard way. By earning something despite adversity. It's a humbling experience to be here."
Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on X at @bad2theallibone.