COLLIER TWP — Like mother, like son?

Aaron Epps hopes so — and so far, so good.

Epps, 35, is the son of former longtime Butler girls basketball coach Dorothea Epps and a former Butler Eagle Boys Basketball Player of the Year. He received that honor in 1998 after helping the Golden Tornado to another solid postseason run.

Epps still loves basketball. And he’s still winning.

He just completed his fourth season as head coach of the Hempfield High School girls basketball team. The Spartans were 15-10 this season and Epps is 67-33 with four WPIAL playoff appearances in as many years.

Their season ended Monday night with a 54-50 loss to Mt. Lebanon in a Class AAAA state tournament play-in game.

Epps guided Hempfield to the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game in 2013-14.

“We’ve been in 12 playoff games over the past four years,” Epps said. “There’s only about five other girls basketball programs in the WPIAL that can say that.”

Prior to coming to Hempfield, Epps was head coach for a year at Kiski Area, where he put together a 16-7 record and a WPIAL playoff appearance.

“The Hempfield job came open and when I was presented that opportunity, I had to go for it,” Epps said. “It’s a top-level program and I couldn’t pass it up.

“I hope to stay here for a while, as long as they’ll have me. The support I’ve gotten from the administration and parents has been superb. I’m working with some fantastic girls. I feel very fortunate.”

Dorothea Epps, now an assistant girls basketball coach at Seneca Valley, said her son has always related well to his players.

“He gets the kids to want to play for him,” she said. “Hempfield’s girls this year are under-sized ... They don’t even understand that they’re under-sized. They win games by outworking the other team.

“Aaron expects a lot out of them and they deliver.”

Epps was an assistant coach on his mother’s teams at Butler for years before becoming a head coach himself.

“I still seek out her advice,” he admitted. “I call her for it all the time. I’ll probably be doing that for the rest of my life.”

Epps works at the post office in Warrendale and lives in Pittsbugh. His commute to practice every day is more than an hour.

He doesn’t mind it a bit.

“I love the game. I love still being involved with it,” Epps said. “That drive is more than worth it.”

“Other coaches and administrators have reached out to him, but Aaron loves it at Hempfield,” Dorothea Epps said. “The girls adore him as their coach and there isn’t any drama there. Nobody wants to drive an hour and 15 minutes to practice every day and experience a bunch of headaches.”

Hempfield will return three starters next season. Epps needs 17 wins to reach 100 for his coaching career.

His team upset Peters Township in the first round of the WPIAL Tournament to extend its playoff run this season.

“Our program is still evolving. It’s still getting better,” Epps said. “I’d like to coach at the college level someday down the road, but for now, I’m excited about what we can accomplish right here.”