In his first season as Jamestown’s head coach, Bill Miley led the Red & Green to a Section VI Class AA title. OBSERVER File Photo

There’s an online video, shot by local sports historian Greg Peterson 25 years ago, of a high school basketball playoff game pitting Niagara Falls against Jamestown at McElrath Gymnasium.

The clip even includes the pregame introduction of the hosts’ starting lineup of Maceo Wofford, Henry Leeper, Craig Swanson, R.J. James and Billy Miley.

For the record, Jamestown won that game and ultimately finished that season with a Section VI championship and a 19-4 record in Coach Ben Drake’s first season at his alma mater.

A quarter-century later, Jamestown did one better.

And guess who the head coach was for the 2023-24 campaign?

Miley.

In his inaugural season at the helm, the 1999 JHS graduate guided the Red & Green to a 21-5 mark that was highlighted by an Erie County Interscholastic Conference Division 1 title and victories in the Section VI Class AA1, Class AA crossover and Class AA Far West Regional, which sent them on their fourth trip to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four in school history.

Not a bad “rookie” year, especially considering he replaced a guy who collected 425 wins, 17 ECIC Division 1 titles and seven sectional championships in 25 seasons.

“He’s done such a great job with this group,” Drake said earlier this month. “I coached him his senior year, he started as jayvee coach after college and he’s been here ever since.

“Our staff has remained consistent over the years. It’s nice because we’ve been on the same page. We’ve had the same philosophies and beliefs, and Billy was a big part of that. He was with us during all those playoff runs we had. … I was very confident that he was more than capable of running this program and just really keeping things going, and he’s done that pretty seamlessly this year.”

Miley was particularly impressive in the postseason.

After losing back-to-back games to Orchard Park to close out the regular season, Jamestown won five playoff games in the span of two weeks, capped by its 51-45 victory over defending state-champion Victor in the crossover game that sent it back to the final four.

Assistant coach Marty Stockwell described Miley as a “worker” and a “detail guy.”

“Did I expect us to be at states?” he said rhetorically. “Maybe not, but to still have success is not a surprise.”

Added Miley in the days leading up to the trip to Glens Falls: “If you set high standards, kids are more apt to reach them. If you set lofty goals and set high standards, kids are going to work to try and achieve those things and you can get more out of them when you do that kind of stuff.”

Miley also had the right stuff in 2023-24. For that reason he is the OBSERVER/Post-Journal Coach of the Year.