GROVE ITY — In 17 years, Don Fee has just about seen it all as boys basketball coach at Grove City HighSchool.

Then the playoffs happened this season, when three state playoff games morphed into three overtime thrillers.

It was enough to make even Fee, who had thought nothing could surprise him on the basketball court, recognize the novelty.

"It's been a magical ride," Fee said.

That ride led Fee to another first: Butler Eagle Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.

"It's a great honor," he said.

Fee beat out Summit Academy coach Cliff Guy, Seneca Valley's Victor Giannotta and Butler's Joe Lewandowski for the award.

This season, the Eagles recorded the most wins in school history at 26 and advanced to the PIAA Class AAA Western Final.

They have a 26-game region winning streak and have advanced to the district playoffs for the 16th time in Fee's 17-year career.

He has a 329-140 career record at the school.

"I think the fact that we have had success in the past helps us," Fee said.

Grove City has won 50 games the last two seasons under Fee, the best two-year span in school history.

And the Eagles did it this season without the top two scorers in school history.

Ryan King graduated last season as the Eagles' top scorer. Two years ago, Mike Johnson graduated.At the time he was atop the Grove City scoring list.

But Fee's system has never centered on one player.

"The team concept is a big part of our success," Fee said. "We've been lucky to have some really good kids over the years, kids who were really committed to the team."

This year, Jordan Fee, the coach's son, led the team in scoring at nearly 14 points per game.

Six different players led the team in scoring in a single game this season.

Coming into the season, Don Fee had a feeling his team would be competitive. He had no idea they would advance as far as they did.

"I knew winning the (District 10) championship was going to be tough," the coach said. "But I felt if we stayed healthy, that everything would fall into place."

Grove City dominated the region schedule, but struggled over the last two weeks of the regular season.

Those struggles spilled over into the district playoffs, where the Eagles had to survive scares from Meadville and Warren and a thumping at the hands of General McLane in the district final.

With a week off between the district final and the PIAA playoff opener, Don Fee changed things up, breaking a 17-year precedent.

He gave his team three days off. He allowed them to play loud music during practice. The coach didn't want to see a repeat of the 2005-06 season, when Grove City rolled during the regular season only to bow out quickly in the postseason.

This time, Grove City beat Chartiers Valley in overtime, then returned to beat Ambridge in triple overtime. Saturday, the Eagles toppled Susquehanna Township, again in overtime.

"Refuse to lose: we put that on the board," coach Fee said. "We talked all season about character traits. We showed a lot of character."

The greatest joy this season brought to Fee wasn't the 26 wins. It wasn't the deep playoff run. It wasn't even living a charmed life in the postseason.

It was coaching his youngest son.

"It's not just coachingJordan during his senior season," the coach said. "That made it very special, of course, even more special because of the success we had. But it was also coaching all of his buddies. I've known these kids since they were little. They came over to our house and played in the back yard. It was just very special."