After 25 seasons, 20 Inter-Ac basketball titles, Germantown Academy's Retif stepping down

After a remarkable quarter-century run, Sherri Retif is stepping down as the head girls' basketball coach at Germantown Academy.

“What a privilege it has been to witness just part of Sherri Retif’s incredible 25-year legacy at GA during my time here,” said Germantown Academy Head of School Rich Schellhas.

“Her program’s statistics are mind-boggling, as is the number of student-athletes she coached and mentored who went on to play, and achieve notable success, at the college and professional level."

In those 25 seasons, Retif's team won a whopping 20 Inter-Academic League titles and piled up 537 wins at the school. During one phenomenal run, the Patriots won 14 straight Inter-Ac crowns and had a winning streak of 109 straight league games.

She also led GA to four Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) championships, the most recent coming in 2019 when the team was ranked No. 13 nationally by MaxPreps.

All told, in her 37 years coaching basketball, Retif compiled a 772-215 record.

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“I am grateful for the opportunity I had to coach some of the most amazing young women to wear a Patriot uniform,” said Retif, who was inducted into the Germantown Academy Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017 and also has a basketball court named after her in the school's new annex.

“Their successes and triumphs are held dear to my heart. As people, I hold them even dearer. The twists and turns and highs and lows of basketball enriched my life and helped me grow as a coach and a person."

Retif, who is also a member of the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame and Tulane University's Hall of Fame as a player, coached 13 of the 16 1,000-point scorers in Patriots history. In addition, 38 of her players went on to play college basketball with four of them becoming NCAA Division I-A coaches.

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Retif's 2008-2009 team, led by Maggie Lucas and Jesse Carey, finished 31-0 and finished No. 8 in the nation in MaxPreps final poll. Her 2000-2001 team, behind Joey Rhoads and Laura Kurz, ended up No. 8 in the nation in USA Today's final poll.

In 2008, Retif, who serves as GA's middle school physical education chair, was the head coach for the McDonald's All-America Game in Milwaukee.

"For the Retifs, coaching GA’s basketball team has always been a family affair," Schellhas said. "She raised her boys on the court (and) her entire family attended nearly every game.

"And once her beloved granddaughter came on the scene, Sherri’s heart grew even bigger."

A search for Retif's replacement is underway.

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Drew Markol: dmarkol@theintell.com; @dmarkol

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: After phenomenal run, Germantown Academy's Retif stepping aside