Same school, new job
KARNS CITY — Former Karns City girls basketball coach Chris Bellis was named head coach of the Gremlins' boys basketball program.
Bellis, 36, was hired at Tuesday night's school board meeting and replaces Steve Andreassi, who resigned following the 2008-09 season after seven years at the helm.
Bellis coached the KC girls varsity for five seasons, compiling a 96-38 record and winning three District 9 championships from 2001-05. He was an assistant coach under Larry Deal for three years, including the 2000 state championship season, before taking over as head coach.
"I needed to take a break from coaching a little bit," Bellis said of resigning as girls head coach in 2005. "My stepson was playing youth basketball in Butler, so I worked with his team for a year."
Karns City athletic director Tom Wagner said Bellis left the girls program "for the right reasons."
"He pursued an option to coach boys basketball because I think a boys (head coaching) job was what he was looking for down the road," Wagner said.
Bellis served as an assistant under Knoch boys basketball coach Chris Andreassi for a year before coaching Karns City's freshman boys team the past two seasons.
The Gremlins' freshman squad finished 11-5 under Bellis each of the past two years.
"The timing is good for me to take this (varsity) job," Bellis said. "I teach in the building at Karns City and I've had experience coaching some of these boys at the lower levels."
The Gremlins finished 3-19 last season, lost their final 11 games and missed the district playoffs for the first time in years. Five seniors graduated from that squad.
"A solid nucleus, including much of the scoring, is coming back," Bellis said. "Our immediate goal is to get to work and be competitive.
"Athletic success is expected at Karns City and I like that. Finishing above .500 gets you in the playoffs and I feel like that's an attainable goal for us."
A 1991 Butler graduate, Bellis played on the Golden Tornado's WPIAL boys basketball championship team that year. He teaches 10th grade government at Karns City High and has been a teacher in the school district for 12 years.
He played college basketball at Clarion University.
"I'm very pleased with this choice," Wagner said. "I'm always comfortable when we hire a coach who is already in the school."
Bellis immediately scheduled open gyms for next week.
"We need to move forward and get back to the basics," Bellis said. "We're forgetting about last year because it was an aberration. This program is headed in the right direction."
Bellis said his basketball philosophy is the same whether he's coaching boys or girls.
"I'm a defensive-minded coach," he said. "Hard work and defense are where a program starts."
Karns City's boys basketball team won District 9 titles in 2001, 2002 and 2005.
