By Rich Chrampanis
MIDDLETOWN – In the countless games over the years during a high school basketball season, it seems as if every type of storyline has played out, but last Saturday afternoon in Middletown brought a pregame headline that was truly rare: husband versus wife.
Holmdel principal Matt Kukoda, the interim girls basketball coach for the Hornets, coached opposite his wife Lisa, the Manasquan head coach, in the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Middletown South.
With all the hype surrounding the spouses’ coaching showdown, the Holmdel and Manasquan girls basketball teams stole the show with a fantastic game that went down to the wire. The underdog Hornets had a 50-45 lead through three quarters and had two chances to take the lead in the final seconds before the state’s sixth-ranked Warriors held on for a 62-59 win.
“For us – we always talked about – it was Manasquan versus Holmdel,” Lisa Kukoda said. “I think the girls gave everything they had – both groups.”
When Holmdel High School suspended girls basketball coach Darren Ault indefinitely eight games into the season for undisclosed reasons, the school’s principal stepped in to take over the successful team. It just so happens Matt Kukoda was a longtime varsity boys coach at Wall and New Egypt before he shifted careers to school administration four years ago. It’s not every day that the school principal can step in and keep a winning team together.
“I asked them, ‘How do you want this to work? I can be your principal and your cheerleader, or I can be your coach,’ ” Matt Kukoda said. “They were starving for a coach. I didn’t plan on shutting this thing down and just rolling the balls out there. We took the opposite approach and we’ll give it everything we’ve got.”
It’s safe to say that the Kukodas are a basketball family. Lisa was a former player and assistant coach at Red Bank Catholic before taking over the Manasquan girls program and has built it into one of the best public school teams in the state, winning multiple state titles and Tournament of Champions crowns. Both were laser focused throughout every second of competition. But after the game the two embraced at midcourt and the emotions of a special moment came to both of them: The proud wife enjoying the principal showing off his coaching chops.
“I obviously think the world of him as a coach,” Lisa said. “I have seen what he has done at past programs and the way that he has built basketball cultures where people are invested. All of those feelings come up when you’re both on the sideline, but once you get into the game, the game becomes the game and you’re focused on the players on the court.”
It shouldn’t have been a surprise that Matt’s Holmdel girls would give the 23-3 Warriors all they could handle.
“We compete to see who can get the seatbelt on first in the car,” Matt said about his relationship with Lisa. “We’re no strangers to competing with one another, trying to make each other better. I hope we gave their team something to think about today and I know our girls left everything out on the court today.”
While this could be billed as a once-in-a-lifetime matchup, there’s more than a distinct possibility these two teams could square off against each other again in the upcoming state basketball playoffs. Along the way, Lisa and Matt will continue to prepare their teams with skills that will go much further than on the basketball court.
“He’s not just a coach, he’s the best leader I’ve seen,” Lisa said. “That has helped get him to where he is.”
She said his players and his family know “he is invested in them” and it shows in everything he does. “That has taken him to where he is in life.”
This is a story of love and basketball and if you think the Holmdel principal and acting coach has sore feelings about losing to his wife in this high-profile game, he made it clear to reporters gathered around him that he is without a doubt her biggest supporter and fan.
“She is perfect in every way: as a mother, as a wife, as a coach and an educator,” Matt said. “It’s nice to be able to experience something like this with her.”
The article originally appeared in the February 24 – March 2, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
