Holy Trinity High School varsity boys basketball coach Joe Conefry was recently named Coach of the Year for the 2012-13 season by the Nassau Suffolk Catholic High School Athletic Association.
Now in his seventh year at the helm of the Titans, Conefry joined the Titans following a successful collegiate coaching career at Columbia University, Hofstra University, Rider University and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
“It’s an honor to receive this award,” Conefry said. “I am very fortunate to have worked with such a high caliber of players, they work tremendously hard, as well as the entire coaching staff. I couldn’t have made it this far without the love and support from the Holy Trinity community, they made this possible.
Conefry is also Associate Director of Advancement and Alumni Affairs at Holy Trinity.
The Titans finished with a record of 19-7, 8-4 in the NSCHSAA, making their way to the NSCHSAA championship against the Chaminade Flyers last month before being defeated 85-64. The season goes down as one of the school’s best in the past 20 years.
Titan’s point guard Damon Coleman was also honored by the NSCHSAA, being tabbed Player of the Year, as the team finished the season ranking sixth on Long Island by LongIslandBasketball.com.
The Titans were also ranked as high as 12th in New York State by the New York State Sports Writers Association. The Titans defeated St. Dominic in the first round of the playoffs and then St. Anthony’s in the semifinals before falling in the finale.
After graduating college, Conefry worked in the Bursar’s office at Nassau Community College and was an assistant under head coach AJ Wynder. The following year, Conefry became a graduate assistant at Hofstra for Jay Wright and said he was at that point “was hooked on coaching.”
Conefry lived in Manhasset until the age of 13, where he played for St. Mary’s CYO and won back-to-back Diocesan Championships with a 67-0 record over two years.
He moved to Hopewell, New Jersey in seventh grade and eventually attended Hopewell Valley High School where he was a three-year starter and scored 1,090 points during his high school hoops career.
He later attended The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., a Division III school where Conefry played four years of basketball.
A shooting guard/small forward, the coach was a captain of his college squad and starter for two years, helping take the team to the NCAA tournament in his junior year, when he was named honorable mention all-Capital Athletic Conference.
In addition to his success with basketball, Conefry was an accomplished football and lacrosse while living in Manhasset. But as luck would have it, after moving to New Jersey, his new school didn’t offer either sport.
“I focused on basketball and me and my older brother Chris worked out in the driveway religiously,” Conefry said.
