By Steve Mims
The Chronicle
THURSTON – After leading Thurston to three straight Midwestern League boys basketball titles for the first time in more than a half-century, Blaine Liberatore is leaving on top.
Liberatore, who led Thurston to the 2018 Class 5A boys state basketball title, announced his resignation as coach during a team banquet on Monday night after 12 years leading the Colts. The Colts went 33-3 in Midwestern League play during the past three seasons to claim the school’s first three-peat in league since 1965-67.
“It is special and the record part of it is awesome, but the kids were even better,” he said. “The relationships and connections, that goes beyond any feeling I can explain or comprehend. It is special to go 33-3 during that time and I don’t know if I ever imagined that could be the case, but I am happy that I got to be around those boys and be part of their lives and develop long-lasting relationships.”
Liberatore, who is a regional manager at Dutch Bros., decided to step down so he could have more time with his wife, Josie, and 6-year old daughter, Scarlett.
“I am leaving on a high note so it is a great time to turn the program over to somebody else,” he said. “The program is in as good of a spot as it can be and personally, I need to take a step away from all the administrative duties and daily grind. My daughter will be in first grade next year and I can help more with that and my wife can pursue her bachelor’s degree and I can support her in that.”
Liberatore spent 11 seasons as an assistant at Thurston before taking over as head coach in 2014. He led the Colts to the state tournament six times during his tenure as head coach.
He compiled an overall record of 167-129, including a 156-93 record during the past 10 seasons at the 5A level. His league record was 91-68, including 87-44 in the Midwestern League.
Thurston won its first boys basketball state title as an underdog in 2018 after finishing tied for third in league at 9-5. The Colts opened the playoffs with a 58-40 win over Pendleton to reach the tournament at Oregon State.
Thurston defeated Mountain View 70-58 in the quarterfinals before knocking off Midwestern champion Crater, 71-57, in the semifinals.
“When we played Mountain View in the quarters, that was the game I was most nervous for because it was the first time I had been a head coach at the state tournament,” he said. “Then we faced Crater, which beat us twice in the regular season, but we came out and played so well that is when I knew we were good and we’d be okay in the title game.”
The Colts routed Wilsonville, 54-36, to claim the championship.
“That title game was one of those times when you just knew everything was hitting on all cylinders,” Liberatore recalled. “The night before, after we beat Crater, I thought ‘I think we are going to win this thing’. I felt we had a good match-up and a good game plan and great kids, but what a crazy run that was.”
The Colts were 11-1 in league last season and finished 22-6 overall while placing fourth at state. Thurston lost three seniors – Brock Johnson, Matt Newell, and Grady Saunders – to season-ending injuries before the year and started 3-4.
“If you told me before the season that we’d be without those three kids, I would have said I am not sure how we are going to do but our kids stepped up in a huge way,” Liberatore said. “This group refused to give in whether it was our early struggles, dealing with sickness in the middle of the year, or coming back in big games at state.”
Thurston went 12-0 in league in 2025 and finished sixth at state to complete a 23-5 season. In 2024, Thurston went 10-2 in league play before losing in the first round of the playoffs.
Thurston played at the 6A level during Liberatore’s first two seasons as coach before moving to 5A in 2016.
Thurston lost in the first round at state in his first season at the 5A level before winning the title in 2018. Thurston followed up its championship by placing sixth at state in ’19.
The Colts would have made another playoff appearance in 2021 after tying for second in the MWL at 6-2, but the OSAA did not hold a tournament that season due to the Covid pandemic.
Liberatore was coaching a travel ball team in the Thurston area when he was introduced to Thurston coach Doug Piquette, who hired him as junior varsity coach. Piquette led the Colts from 1998-2014 and returned as an assistant under Liberatore.
“I would be remiss not to mention Doug’s impact on me as a coach and person,” Liberatore said, noting that Piquette teaches a basketball fundamentals class at Thurston and has coached his two sons in Thurston youth leagues for the past decade. “He is one of the big reasons why this program is not only strong now, but in position to be strong for the next few years too.”
