Humble Petruska earns pass into A-K Valley Sports Hall of Fame

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, May 5, 2018 | 11:36 PM

Previous Next

Previous Next

It was late last fall during an evening episode of “NCIS” when Mars girls basketball coach Dana Petruska received word she would be part of the 49th class inducted into the Alle-Kiski Sports Hall of Fame.

The always-humble Petruska was stunned. She hung up the phone and really didn't understand why she had been selected.

“I'm very honored,” said Petruska, 61, a 1975 Deer Lakes grad. “When it comes to accolades and honors, I don't know, it's just because it wasn't anything that I truly thought about. I had my chance to do all of this. After I hung up, I (told my husband) some guy just told me that I got inducted into the A-K Hall of Fame.”

Petruska and seven other former Alle-Kiski Valley standouts make up the class to be inducted May 19 at Quality Inn in New Kensington.

Petruska's husband, Jim, immediately said he'd write her acceptance speech, but there was something missing.

“I really didn't think I was worth of this honor, and I figured I needed to get out there and win a state (basketball) championship,“ Petruska joked.

After more than 30 years of coaching girls basketball, Petruska and Mars put it all together and went on a run through the PIAA Class 5A girls bracket that ended with a 36-33 win over Archbishop Wood in the PIAA championship game. The win was Petruska's first championship as a coach.

Petruska has amassed a career record of 440-286. The bulk of her wins (329) came during two stints at Mars, and 111 came when she went back to Deer Lakes and coached from 2007-14.

It was a season, and a career, defined by a quote Petruska's husband delivered in a short speech before the state championship game: “Fate whispered to the warrior, you cannot survive the storm. The warrior whispered back, I am the storm.”

That warrior spirit drove Petruska to earn a scholarship in both basketball and volleyball to Pitt, where she went on to star for the Pitt women's basketball team from 1975-79. She also earned a scholarship from Flagler (Fla.), where she had her choice of basketball, volleyball and softball, but she was never fond of leaving home.

“I was just a country bumpkin, and the first time I was ever in Oakland was to register for classes,” Petruska said. “There was no way I was going away to school.”

It wasn't always smooth sailing for Petruska.

“What I've learned over the years, and I probably learned this when I got the boot from Mars, is that I tell my kids, ‘I cannot want this more than you,' ” Petruska said.

Mars gave Petruska “the boot” following the 2005 season.

“I wanted to win so bad, and I wanted to be successful so bad,” Petruska said. “The yelling wasn't working, especially with this generation. Ask my husband. I would come home and cry after games. So, I backed off.”

It's always been more about developing young players into successful adults for Petruska. Tough love, discipline and accountability are a few of the ingredients needed for success on the hardwood, but it was all about building winners in life for Petruska.

“The kids today, and not all of them, don't understand what hard work means or understand what constructive criticism means,” Petruska said. “I always make sure the kids that I have the opportunity to coach learn these life lessons, and it helps them be successful.”

Petruska resides in Valencia with her husband Jim, with whom she raised three boys: Jimmy (36), Greg (35) and Dave (29). Jimmy and Dave followed their mother into coaching. Jimmy is the women's basketball coach at Saint Vincent, and Dave was hired to replace his mother as the Deer Lakes girls' coach in 2015. For the record, Dave is 0-4 against his mother when the two schools played in Section 1-3A.

“It's been fun to watch Jimmy and Dave follow in my coaching footsteps,” Petruska said. “But, I'm way more proud of the young men that all three of my sons have become.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.