When Flathead Valley Homeschool girls basketball coach Charles Kenney officially informed his girls after Saturday’s loser-out game at the Montana Christian Athletic Association state tournament that he was retiring, he really meant it.

Kenney, who says he has retired “five times and I always come back,” told his players in the locker room at Carroll College that this was it.

“They kind of knew it (all season long),” he said.

“It was pretty much unspoken, but with all the seniors graduating, this was the perfect time for me to finish.”

The homeschool posted a 1-2 record at state to end the season with an 18-12 mark.

Kenney, 68, has coached homeschool basketball in the valley for 12 years. He never had a losing season.

Kenney spent the first seven with the boys program, winning three state titles and placing second at the National Home School Tournament in 2003.

He retired as boys coach in 2005, but was back at it in 2008 with the girls.

“They needed somebody to step in,” he said after homeschool girls coach Paul Zemke retired after four state championships.

“Three seniors were coming back from his team — Danae Sheeran, Jenna Sladek and Jordanna Weimer — and they asked if I would coach them.

“Because I had four seniors on this team, I was going to see them through,” Kenney said of why he stayed with it this season.

“I was committed to them.

“I’m going to miss being a part of their lives and taking them to a higher level of basketball than they thought they were capable of attaining.

“It was developing not just their basketball skills, but it was about the overall person, character, attitude and being an encouragement for them.”

Kenney was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Georgia in 1962 after a prestigious prep career.

He played college basketball at Georgia Tech, where he was a three-year starter (1964-67). A guard, he averaged 10 points a game.

Kenney played against Wes Unsel at Louisville and Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) at UCLA.

He moved to Montana in 1996, settling in Proctor.

Kenney also coach 20 years in Atlanta at a various levels — from church league on up to high school.

“Even though there were tears with the way we lost on Saturday and with me leaving, I told them it doesn’t come down to one season or one game,” Kenney said of what his final words were.

“It comes down to lessons learned for a lifetime.”