March 18, 2015
Bear Creek boys and girls basketball head coaches Rod Cortes and Jason Lowrey were dismissed March 12, they both said.
Cortes and Lowrey were given the news by Bruins athletic director Anthony Sahyoun, they said. In two seasons as head coach, Cortes’ teams went a combined 42-15, a winning percentage of .737, winning the 2014-15 co-San Joaquin Athletic Association championship with Chavez.
He began at Bear Creek 11 years ago as an assistant and worked his way up. Cortes doesn’t work at Bear Creek – he’s a pharmacy technician for the state – but got a call from Sahyoun to visit the school March 12. That’s when he was given the news.
Sahyoun said in a text message that he cannot comment on personnel matters at this time. Allen Dosty, the Bear Creek assistant principal who oversees athletics, has not been reached for comment.
Lowrey, 40, was given a similar message. He said he didn’t have much time to react, given he works in school security at Bear Creek and was “on the clock.”
“The only answer I got was they wanted to go in a different direction, and that was it. It was a shock to me and I know it was a shock to Rod. It’s not the end of the world, but just disappointed,” Lowrey said.
Lowrey spent a seven years at Lodi High – five coaching freshman boys, two coaching sophomore girls – and the 2011-12 season as a varsity assistant at McNair before earning the Bear Creek gig. In three seasons under Lowrey, the Bruins went 62-22, a winning percentage of .738.
This season, Bear Creek won the first league title in the program’s history.
Lowrey added, though, that he respects the difficult decisions Bear Creek administrators have to make, and that those like Sahyoun don’t have it easy.
“It’s hard for me, because like Anthony, I also work at the school,” he said. “I respect the fact that they have a difficult job and they have to make difficult decisions every day. This is definitely a shock to both of us.”