A COACHING ‘FAMILY’: Mix of experience, personal ties, trust have Colts building long-term success

THURSTON – Some high school basketball coaches might be hesitant to add a former head coach to their staff.

They might come with a big ego, their own ideas, and maybe even a desire to eventually take over the program.

Yet when Blaine Liberatore first added Doug Piquette and later Eric Orton to his Thurston boys basketball staff, he didn’t have to worry about any of that.

“It was a no-brainer,” Liberatore said.

“Yeah, you had no brain when you hired us,” Piquette quickly cracked during an impromptu post-practice coaches’ meeting recently at McKenzie River Taphouse.

That’s a pretty typical interaction between the three who have worked together in different roles at a couple of schools during the past two decades.

“They are great coaches and friends,” Liberatore said. “Doug has been a father figure and best friend and Eric is like a brother. So it is like family.”

Piquette and Orton are literally family, having married sisters and the brothers-in-law live just down the road from each other.

Piquette was Thurston’s head coach from 1998-2014, including four years coaching Orton before he graduated in 2002. Orton started his coaching career as Piquette’s assistant in 2006 on a staff that also included Liberatore as junior varsity coach.

One year after Piquette stepped down, Liberatore took over the Colts and is now in his 11th season as head coach and 22nd overall in the program. Liberatore was helping coach a travel ball team in the Thurston area when he was introduced to the high school program.

“I would come to games and practices, I don’t really remember asking Doug, I just kind of showed up,” he joked. “We talked some hoops and developed a relationship, it was one of those organic things.”

Orton was head coach at Marist and North Eugene before spending eight seasons at Springfield, including the final five with Piquette as his assistant. When Orton moved over to Sheldon, Piquette returned to Thurston to help Liberatore. Orton joined the Colts’ staff this year after leaving the Irish.

Orton: It was time to ‘reevaluate’

“I didn’t know if I wanted to coach this year or not, 16 years as head coach is a long time and I have a 9- and 11-year-old,” Orton said. “I told Blaine I might want to, but I wasn’t sure so I needed to take the time to reevaluate where I was as a coach and be a good dad and husband. Then summer was over and I have been a part of high school basketball almost every year since I was a freshman in high school and even earlier because my dad was a coach. There were not many years in my life when I was not part of high school basketball.”

The three, along with assistant Marcus Miller, helped guide the Colts to a Midwestern League title and an unbeaten run through conference at 12-0. Now 21-3 overall, Thurston is ranked No. 2 in the state heading into the postseason tournament.

“We have different strengths and weaknesses, but we all have the same background,” Piquette said. “We have grown together. Blaine was an assistant for me and Eric was an assistant and played for me. It’s fun to have Eric bring what he’s learned on his own and implement that. It’s been really good because we’ve done the same stuff for so long that it is nice to get a fresh look at it. Sometimes it is reassuring what we are doing and other times it is like ‘I hadn’t thought of that’. It has been really good for all of us to put it all together and work together.”

Piquette and Orton combine to bring more than 30 years of experience as a head coach to Liberatore’s bench.

“With everything these guys have done, their knowledge and the way they see things, it was easy to add them,” Liberatore said. “Doug was a mentor to both of us and I don’t know if I’ve ever met someone who can see so much on a basketball court all the time as him. So to have that … and then Eric sees things in a different way. I always respected what he’s done with organization on offense and the way he breaks down pieces inside of an offense and he coaches the same defensive system we do. So it was not like bringing in a head coach you don’t know, you are bringing in a head coach you absolutely know so there are no surprises.”

When Piquette stepped down as head coach of the Colts, he wanted to rid himself of some of the headaches that come with holding the top job.

Piquette finds the right spot

“I just wanted to coach basketball, build relationships with kids and coach with my friends and now I get to do that,” he said. “You have to be careful who you coach for when you have been a head coach because I have a lot to do with things and Blaine is really good at listening and letting our ideas come through, but at the same time he’s not afraid to say if he doesn’t like something. When people surround themselves with a staff, they put loyal people there more than for what they know so for us it is cool because we all know a lot and we are loyal.”

During his time as a head coach, Orton often added former head coaches to his staff, including his dad Doug, who coached at Creswell and Sheldon among other stops. Piquette spent five years with Orton at Springfield while longtime Springfield coach Jim Fryback was with him at Sheldon.

“I can just be me,” Orton said. “I say things, I give ideas, and I get to coach the kids. If I’m saying something Blaine doesn’t like, I can tell and I don’t take offense. I always wanted to have assistant coaches who challenged me and brought new ideas to make me a better coach. Surrounding yourself with people who are knowledgeable in the game only helps your team. 

“Doug taught me and Blaine how to break down film so it has been fun to be around guys you know well. The players have been awesome and so receptive. I think they see how we interact, we have a great time and challenge each other,” he said.

Coaching, lifestyle choices

By stepping down as head coach, Orton has had time to coach the teams for his 11-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son. Piquette had a similar opportunity and now his sons are both part of Thurston’s program, Logan as a junior and Quinn as a freshman.

“I coached Logan since kindergarten and took over Quinn’s group when he was in third grade,” he recalled. “For two or three years, I was doing two or three practices a night and it was a lot, but I’d never trade that. It was so fun.”

Liberatore, who works as a regional manager at Dutch Bros., credits Piquette’s work with area youth programs for much of Thurston’s current success. Piquette also teaches a basketball class during his 28th year as a teacher at the school.

“Doug deserves a lot of credit for our success, but he’ll be the first to deny it,” Liberatore said. “What he did with Logan and Quinn’s groups and what he has done in basketball class with our fundamentals and skill-set stuff, that has been the biggest difference over the past four years. 

“Even when we won state in 2018, one of the coolest things for me was that the kids were asking where Doug was because he was with them all the time in basketball class. He was a massive part of us winning a state title even though he wasn’t on our staff. We couldn’t have done it without him,” he said.

Forged by fire

Now the Colts are among the favorites to add a second state title under Liberatore. It has been a steady rise for Thurston, which went 9-15 three years ago, including a 53-13 loss at Barlow that led to the following phone call between brothers-in-law while Piquette was driving home after the game.

Orton: “Hey, what’s up? I’m going to get a beer after our game, what are you doing?”

Piquette: “Oh, just looking for a cliff to drive off of.”

Orton: “Rough game tonight?”

Piquette: “Yeah, we scored 13 points.”

Orton: “In the game?”

Those days seem long ago for the Colts, who shared the Midwestern League title last year at 10-2 and already captured this year’s crown outright.

“We had to reevaluate how we do things and the kids had to be a little more committed,” Piquette said. “These last two years, they spent a lot of time getting better and that is the most rewarding thing. Whether we are 19-3 or .500, they have been committed and loyal to us so it is cool to see how far they have come in four years. 

“Last year, we took a huge jump and this year we are taking another jump. To have kids that like to play basketball and to see their growth and commitment and the way they treat each other, the culture has been really cool and Blaine is really good at that stuff,” he said.