Elmira Notre Dame's back-to-back state champs: Family bonds added to special times

Andrew Legare
Elmira Star-Gazette

This story is Part 2 of a series looking back on Elmira Notre Dame's historic seasons in 2006 and 2007, when the girls basketball team won back-to-back state championships.

Robert Kelly made sure the first word from granddaughter Eleanor was "ball." Basketball and family have long gone together in the Kelly family.

The Elmira Notre Dame girls basketball teams he coached to back-to-back Class C state championships in 2006 and 2007 included daughters Kate and Patty. Youngest daughter Erin was videographer. Assistant coach Steve Agan coached his daughter, Kate, both seasons.

The biological ties and bonds created with others combined to make even more meaningful two spectacular seasons of basketball.

Robert Kelly had a 168-48 record in 10 seasons as Elmira Notre Dame coach.

"I think we were absolutely a family," said Kate (Agan) Liska. "Nights and weekends we were always together, all of the girls. All of our parents were friends as well. I think the Manuels and Krusens — (Mallory Lawes') parents — my parents, the Kellys, it was a really great, family-oriented team.

"Everyone supported everyone. All of our parents were driving carpool. I feel like I was at Mal’s house every weekend or she was at mine. We were always together."

Part 1, for subscribers:  15 years later, 10 reasons Elmira Notre Dame made hoops history

Part 3:  Success, strong bonds have continued since title years for Notre Dame

'The best coach I ever had'

Kate (Kelly) Karam, 33, is the mother of two small children: 3-year-old Eleanor and 5-month-old son Casey. Patty (Kelly) Bushey is expecting her first child soon with husband Isaac Bushey, head coach of the Corning Community College men's basketball team.

When asked if the family had its own celebration following the state titles, Patty Bushey responded with a laugh, "We still celebrate. What are you talking about?"

"It was pretty special," Kelly said of coaching his daughters. "It wasn't always pleasant, but the thing is we never brought that stuff home. It was always at the gym and we didn't really talk a lot about basketball at home, which was cool."

Elmira Notre Dame's Katelyn Agan and coach Robert Kelly embrace after the team won the state Class C state title March 18, 2007 at Hudson Valley Community College. Kelsey Foster, left, looks on.

Their father/daughter coaching relationship dated back to grade school for both girls.

Bushey, 31, said it wasn't always easy being the coach's daughter and there were times her dad would direct his frustrations her way, even when she was on the bench.

"Yes, he was hard on his daughters the most, but he was the best coach I ever had," she said.

Karam gave her dad the same compliment. She praised him for never playing favorites and helping to create an environment in which everyone wanted the best for everybody else.

"We ate, slept, breathed that experience at the time," Karam said. "It was just really cool I could watch my dad accomplish that as a coach, but also at the same time accomplish that as a player as well. I think I appreciate it more looking back on it."

Kelly made most of opportunity

Robert Kelly diagrams a play as Notre Dame girls basketball coach in 2008.

Robert Kelly, 60, credits retired Notre Dame President Sister Mary Walter Hickey and former athletic director Steve Weber with taking a chance on him as coach in 2003.

"It wasn't very popular in the beginning, there's no doubt about it," he said.

He coached the Crusaders through the 2012-13 season, adding a third Section 4 Class C title in 2012 and compiling a 168-48 record. His success has continued as girls coach at Waverly High School, where he is a business teacher, a job he held while coaching the Crusaders.

When Kelly returns to Notre Dame for games, he can't help but notice the state championship banners that hang in the gym and the sign out front. They were special times and special teams, he said.

Robert Kelly coaches the Waverly girls basketball team to a win over Elmira Notre Dame during the 2021-22 season. Kelly coached Notre Dame to back-to-back state titles in 2006 and 2007.

"I would describe him as a fun coach," star point guard Marjorie McKinery said. "He could make us laugh. We had a good time, but he also knew when we needed some tough love, too. There were broken clipboards, but there were also a lot of laughs."

Lawes went on to play Division I basketball at Loyola (Maryland) and Binghamton University. She recently completed her first season as assistant coach for the Elmira College women's team. Lawes is passing on some of Coach Kelly's influence to EC players: be the best-conditioned team on the court, be fundamentally sound, be good teammates, challenge each other.

"He put us in every position possible to prepare us and make us the best," Lawes said.

Kelly considers himself lucky to have had the chance to coach those teams and to still have those players part of his life.

"I'm thankful that you put basketball aside, I can give any one of those girls a call and I think they would stop whatever they're doing to give this old guy a few minutes to talk," he said. "It's lifetime friendships, there's no doubt about it."

Basketball part of cherished memories

Steve Agan, left, a member of the 1978 Elmira Notre Dame boys basketball state championship team, celebrated with his daughter, Kate Agan, a member of the 2006 Notre Dame girls basketball state championship team.

Kelly and Steve Agan were high school friends. Steve was part of Notre Dame's 1978 boys basketball state championship team, which remains the only Elmira-Corning area boys team to win a state title. Kelly was on JV that year.

"It was really special because my dad was my biggest supporter," Liska said. "Just being able to have him coaching alongside Mr. Kelly from the sidelines was really a unique experience. My dad was always the one taking me to AAU games, all of my practices he was always there, never missed anything."

Kathleen Buckley's mom and dad have died since she was part of the Crusaders' first state championship team. She cherishes the memories she shared with them that winter.

"I just remember that time being a really special time for my relationship with my dad and the commitment we had to playing basketball in my back yard and seeing it through to a state championship," Buckley said. "That is a big part of my memories and how proud and invested my parents and the whole community were around seeing our goals happen."

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.