SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : 3-A Roundup : Tony Lipold Announces Retirement : Bolsa Grande Loses Its Basketball Coach

Tony Lipold, Bolsa Grande High School basketball coach, announced Tuesday he will not return next season to coach the Matadors.

Lipold made the announcement after his team had lost to Etiwanda, 79-76, in the second round of the Southern Section 3-A playoffs. He said he had made the decision to leave at the beginning of the season.

“I decided it was time for me to take some time out,” Lipold said. “I’ve been involved with the game as a player or coach since 1966. That’s a long time.”

Lipold began at Bolsa Grande as an assistant coach in 1975, becoming the head coach in 1978. His Matador teams have a 116-93 record and have qualified for the playoffs four times.

This season, Bolsa Grande won the Garden Grove League championship, its first league championship in basketball since 1962. Lipold was named coach of the year by a vote of the league’s coaches.

“It’s great to go out with this group,” he said. “We accomplished a lot together. But I want to go out and watch what other people are doing in basketball. Maybe check out other practices and games. You can’t learn a lot about the game when you have practice every day. . . . This doesn’t mean I don’t want to coach again. I probably will.”

Lipold said his decision to leave the basketball program will not affect his position as activities director at Bolsa Grande.