For Coach Bentley, A Familiar Foe

Before the season began, Wakefield head coach Tony Bentley said his main goal was to finish in the top four in the district, earn a home playoff game, then draw a regional opponent, “where anything can happen.”  Tuesday night’s clash of Arlington rivals, Wakefield and Washington-Lee, will mark the halfway point of district competition. 

Both teams are coming off important two-point victories against Edison and Falls Church, respectively.  Both teams also enter at 3-3 in the National District, tied for fourth place in the standings.  But for Bentley, this matchup is not just an important rivalry game but also a conflict of interest, as he squares off against his alma mater, led by mentor and good friend Bobby Dobson, whom he assisted at Washington-Lee for nine years.

Bentley, a charismatic coach with a fiery will to win, was a local standout as a player for Washington-Lee under former head coach John Phillips. Phillips, who always believed Bentley would make a great coach, offered him a seat on the bench when he graduated, a position that he gladly accepted.   Two years later, when Phillips stepped down, Dobson stepped in and was left to decide about the eager young Bentley.

“He kept me on, and I am very grateful for that,” Bentley said.  “It didn’t take long for us to bond, and he became like a big brother to me.”

Bentley started off as the freshman coach, then moved up to junior varsity a year later.  While many coaches of younger teams go home after their games, Bentley sat on the varsity bench every night, picking up pointers from his head coach.

“I just tried to soak everything up that he taught me,” Bentley reflected. “As a coach and as a man.”

It wasn’t long until Dobson realized his assistant’s value, and began letting Bentley talk to the team in the locker room at halftimes.

“Bobby gave me a voice,” Bentley said.  “I was still a young guy, just thankful for the faith and confidence he had in me.”

The duo rode that confidence to many successful seasons with the Generals, before the head coach position opened up at Wakefield.

“It was time for me to a make a move, to start my head coaching career,” Bentley said.  “I didn’t think I was going to get the job, but I was fortunate to be chosen.”

He explained that Dobson was a little less than happy to hear the news.

“He was mad, but he was good,” Bentley said of his long time friend.  “He told me he didn’t want me to go, but he understood and gave me his blessings.”

Bentley also admitted that it was an awkward transition from the clipboard to the whistle, so to speak, and that he often found himself mimicking the ways of his mentor.

“When I first started I was doing everything exactly like Bobby would have done it,” Bentley said.  “It took me at least a year to get my own identity as a coach."

Since then, Bentley has made quite a name for himself at Wakefield.  He is well known locally for leading the talented 2005 Warriors to their second consecutive District title, and first Regional title in over 40 years.  The team went 28-0 before narrowly losing in the state semi-finals.   Although Bentley was sad that he could not look over and see Dobson on his bench, he credits much of his success that year to his mentor.   Dobson also made the trip down to Richmond for the state semifinal and covered the game as a color commentator.

As for seeing Dobson on the opposing bench: “I hate it,” Bentley stated.  “I hate looking down the bench and seeing him fighting, like I’m fighting, knowing we’re not on the same team.”

When asked what it means to get the victory over his long time friend, he simply replied: “For me, the friendship means more than the rivalry.  There’s no ‘in your face,’ nothing like that.”

The two have remained so close that they still call each other after every game, using each other as outlets for basketball talk on their drives home.  However, Bentley made certain that their enduring friendship, the history of the rivalry, and his own personal past will all be set aside when the teams hit the court Tuesday night.

“When that ball goes in the air,” he explained.  “There’s no doubt we both want to get that win.”

There is also no doubt the two will have plenty to talk about after this one, as their teams are as evenly matched as their records indicate.  Following a frustrating fourth quarter collapse by the Generals in a loss to Edison last week, Dobson said something that sounded strangely familiar.

“We’ll be right there in the top four at the end of the year when it matters,” Dobson claimed.

Ironically, these two great coaches and close friends will go head-to-head to decide which team sits in fourth place at the halfway point of the regular season.  The game will tip off in front of an electric crowd at Wakefield tonight at 7:30 pm.

For an inside look at the man behind the story, check out “Remember the Warriors,” a documentary capturing the 2005 Regional Champion team’s amazing run through the postseason.  Ironically, producer Cutter Shepard Hodierne actually played for Washington-Lee that same season but, after being eliminated by Wakefield, he proposed the idea to Bentley, who he knew as a JV coach his freshman year, Bentley’s last as a coach at Washington-Lee.