On a night of firsts, a legend was deepened.
Jefferson opened its sparkling new Falcon Gymnasium on Saturday night with a first-game 43-30 girls basketball victory against visiting Madison.
It was recognized as the first varsity victory in the 1,200-seat facility, the first basket was by Madison’s Brittany George and the first Jefferson basket was by Lizzy Ziemski.
A milestone that was not recognized, however, was that the win was the 400th by the legendary Rod Holmes at Jefferson.
The win came in the first contest of his 25th season at the helm, and was the 407th of his career, which began with one season at Bristol.
Holmes is the only area and county girls basketball coach with 300 wins, let alone 400, and now holds a career record of 407-156 (.723).
His record at Jefferson is even more impressive, now standing at 400-141 (.739).
Holmes, a Badger High School and Malone College graduate, and his wife Denise, reside in Cherry Valley.
Their son, Raymond is a sophomore at Ohio Northern. Daughter Katie is a sophomore at Pymatuning Valley High School.
