Lewis and Clark girls basketball coach quits midseason

Chad Kimberley, who was hired early last fall to replace George Pfeifer – who resigned just before school started – as the Lewis and Clark girls basketball coach, quit abruptly over the weekend following the Tigers’ game last Friday.

LC first-year principal Marybeth Smith confirmed Kimberley’s resignation on Tuesday afternoon. She said Kimberley wasn’t asked to step down.

Retired teacher Rick Maddock has been named interim coach for the rest of the season, Smith said.

Efforts were made to reach Kimberley through email and phone calls but he didn’t respond.

LC reached the halfway mark of the season on Friday. The Tigers lost at home 54-39 to University.

The Tigers are 5-6 overall and 5-4 in the Greater Spokane League, tied for fifth. LC was picked to finish fourth.

Pfeifer resigned a week before school started when he took a teaching position at Garry Middle School.

Kimberley had spent a little time in the summer assisting Pfeifer at a couple of tournaments. Kimberley had previous head coaching positions at Freeman and Valley Christian.

Sources have told The Spokesman-Review that Kimberley quit after he was approached outside the locker room on Friday by a group of parents.

“I know he’s been pulling hard to make it a fit,” Smith said of Kimberley’s short coaching stint. “It was more than challenging for him.”

Asked why Kimberley specifically resigned, Smith said “I don’t want to put words in his mouth.”

Smith said there was parental pressure.

“There’s always parental pressure on all of our coaches,” Smith said. “With this is being my first year at LC, I don’t have a metric to go by.”