There were cordial words between Luray head coach Joe Lucas and Stuarts Draft head coach Chad Seibert before their teams took the court against each other on Monday night at SDHS.

“He told me before the game that he loved me,” Lucas said. “I told him I loved him, too.”

Lucas, who described Seibert as his mentor, said their longtime friendship extends far beyond basketball, noting they chatted throughout the entire junior varsity game and never mentioned their game that immediately followed.

Lucas said win or lose, he and Seibert would chat together the next day as their tight-knit bond is far greater than what a scoreboard reads.

Ironically, it was Seibert who told Lucas that basketball isn’t always the “main” thing, and Lucas has taken that as the most significant piece of advice he’s gotten from his coaching pal.

“I think that’s so important for me, having two kids and having to balance that,” Lucas said. “Especially when we’re losing and it’s hard. He helps me keep level-headed to control what I can control.”

Lucas said, unfortunately, there had to be a winner on Monday.

It ended up being Lucas himself, as the Bulldogs scored a thrilling non-district girls basketball win over the Cougars when senior guard Maggie Foltz sunk a buzzer-beating layup in overtime.

While Seibert hates that he came out on the losing side on Monday, there was undoubtedly a full-circle moment as the two coaches stood on the opposing floor.

Seibert was the head coach for the Eastern Mennonite Flames basketball program when he first met Lucas.

From there, Lucas began going to Seibert’s practices and formed a relationship with him.

Lucas gained a wealth of knowledge from Seibert, absorbing everything he could like a sponge.

Seibert said Lucas would constantly send emails and texts as the two would bounce their coaching philosophies off of each other.

Fast forward to Monday, and the two friends who’ve worked together in recent memory were battling against each other in a thrilling overtime game.

“Not everything he does is mine by any stretch, but we’ve shared a bunch of ideas,” Seibert said. “I see a lot of myself in what he does, so I have great respect for him. We’re so better for having played in that game [on Monday], and that’s what I told the girls.”

Lucas said that the two grew a bond over the love of basketball, and their friendship has grown strong enough to where they talk every day.

In one of the ways Seibert’s been a mentor, Lucas described him as more “mellow” than he is, adding that Seibert’s been able to help him in that aspect and stay calm through the trying times of a season.

“He’s helped me to grow,” Lucas said. “He’s a really good sounding board, helps me to stay level-headed, especially this year, when it’s been kinda tough. I appreciate him a lot.”

Seibert said he and Lucas might wear different hats for each other, but they’re immensely close as friends.

Seibert is proud of how Lucas operates as a coach and added that he’s one of the few coaches in the state he’d allow his kids to play for.

“He’s a stud,” Seibert said. “His program is years ahead of ours right now, just from a program and culture standpoint, because we’re just at the beginning of what we’re trying to put in here.”

Lucas would eventually lead the Bulldogs to the [Virginia High School League Class 2] state championship in 2021 — the first since 1988 for the program.

Lucas owed much of his success to his mentor in Seibert, he said, and it means a lot to the leader of the Cougars to be a prominent figure in Lucas’ personal and professional life.

“For him to give any little piece of credit to someone like me really means a lot, for sure,” Seibert said.