Saranac girls varsity basketball coach Chad Keysor has been on the unfortunate end of many contests against Andy Landry's Northeastern Clinton squad for many years.

The Cougars were perennial Section VII champions, many times coming at the expense of the Chiefs.

Even with that sort of history, Keysor is "very disappointed" to see Landry go.

After 14 seasons coaching the Northeastern Clinton girls' varsity basketball team, Landry said he decided not to reapply for the head coaching job for next season, ending a near-four decade long coaching career that began in 1971.

Keysor had lots of praise for the retired coach, calling the Northeastern Clinton the top program in the area under Landry, who brought the team unprecedented success.

"He built such a strong program that it forced the rest of us to do the same or fall way behind," Keysor said. "Saranac girls' basketball would not be as successful as we are right now without him."

Landry's retirement from coaching comes two years after he retired from his teaching position. Dave Lambert, the girls' junior varsity coach, will take over the position next season.

"It was just time to get out, give someone else a chance," Landry said. "Now I'm officially retired."

Landry steps away with an impressive legacy at the helm of the Cougars. During his 14 seasons, he amassed a 285-51 record and advanced as far as the state title game.

"It's nice, but credit goes to the girls," Landry said. "We've had some really good athletes and basketball players for the last 14 years."

Northeastern Clinton won the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference Div. I title or tied for it every year Landry was coach. He led the Cougars to 12 Section VII titles.

Josie Gilroy, the Northeastern Clinton athletic director, called Landry generous and classy.

"He was very knowledgeable about basketball and he had a good rapport with our athletes," she said. "He was respected by the other coaches in the league, and he had obviously a tremendous winning record."

In Landry's last season, the Cougars went 22-3 and advanced to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class B semifinals. It was the furthest the team had gone since an appearance in the championship game in 2000.

On their way, the Cougars won the Class B Section VII title over Peru after splitting the CVAC regular season title with Saranac, who beat Northeastern Clinton in the tie-breaker. The Class B title was the Cougars' sixth straight.

"It was a phenomenal run," Landry said of his time with the girls' team.

Landry got his first varsity coaching job with the Northeastern Clinton boys' varsity team in 1980 after spending several years coaching in different levels, six with the junior varsity team.

On Dec. 6, 1980, Northeastern Clinton defeated St. John's, 46-43, in Landry's varsity debut. Coincidentally, St. John's was coached by Art deGrandpre, Landry's high school basketball coach at Beekmantown.

He capped off his four seasons coaching the team with a section title in 1985 when the Cougars upset Plattsburgh High in the Class B tournament.

Chazy turned to Landry in 1986 seeking a coach, and after making sure it was okay with his son Rob, a player on the Eagles team, he signed on.

Landry coached for three seasons at the school his two kids attended — his son graduated in 1988 and then his daughter Sara in 1989 — and the 1988-89 season was his last with the Eagles.

"It turned out to be great, I had a really good time," Landry said.

He returned as the interim head coach for the Northeastern Clinton girls' team for the 1994-95 season while Don Sears dealt with cancer. Landry was named CVAC Coach of the Year. Sears returned the following season, but passed the torch to Landry in 1996.

Landry's 285 victories puts him at the top for Section VII career girls' basketball victories. He doesn't expect that record to hold very long, with Saranac's Chad Keysor closing in with a 279-185 record.

Keysor said the record will mean a lot to him, but more focus should be put on Landry's winning percentage — 85 percent — than just the win total.

"He set that record in so many fewer games," Keysor said. "It's a great record, the total, but there should be a record for winning percentage. That kind of goes unnoticed."

Landry credits longtime assistant coach Norm Bonneau with playing a big role in the team's continued success.

Lambert has coached the girls' junior varsity team for the last six years and said he was surprised and honored to be named the varsity coach.

He said Landry and Bonneau took good care of him and he learned a lot from them.

"It's a pretty prestigious job really up here in the North Country. I'm going to just try and do the best I can," Lambert said.

Landry will move from being one of the school's best coaches to being one of its biggest fans.

"I'll be in the bleachers next year watching them," Landry said.

E-mail Ryan Hayner at: rhayner@pressrepublican.com