Acclaimed Coach Leaving CB East

A high school coach widely regarded as one of the area's best will be leaving Central Bucks High School East.

Tom Lonergan has resigned from his post as head varsity coach of the girls basketball team.

Gwynedd Mercy Academy, in Gwynedd Valley, on Monday announced it has hired Lonergan as its girls basketball coach.

"It was just the right time for a change," Lonergan said in a statement.

When he found out Gwynedd was looking for a new coach, he said he jumped at the chance to return to his Catholic basketball roots.

Lonergan attended Archbishop Ryan, and started coaching CYO sports while still in high school. His first two coaching jobs were at Catholic schools, he said.

Lonergan leaves CB East after 14 seasons, during which time his teams won 11 Suburban One League Championships, went to the PIAA State Playoffs 11 times, and held a 90 percent winning percentage in Suburban One Conference play.

Those stats are enough to make him the winningest coach in the history of the Central Bucks School District, officials said, with a record of 305-93 (.766). 

Gwynedd Mercy finished its most recent season at 11-13 and lost in the PIAA District One AAA quarterfinals. But Lonergan said he thinks of the team as a "sleeping giant."

"I will do everything I can to put them in a position where they are hanging some new banners up in the gym," he said. "And I have a feeling it won't take very long to accomplish that."

Before coming to CB East, Lonergan was the head coach at Bishop McDevitt for 15 years. He won 265 games and four Philadelphia Catholic League Championships between 1984 and 1999.