The late Pat Gainey, a native of Dunn, recorded a phenomenal record in women’s basketball at a couple of different stops during his coaching career and was a real supporter of women’s athletics. A graduate of Atlantic Christian College, Gainey began his career at Lee Woodard High in Wilson County and then moved to Pamlico County for a four-year stint. His overall record at Pamlico was an incredible 93-6, and he went from there to Taylorsville, where he coached form 1955-64. His women’s basketball teams won Western North Carolina High School Activities Association titles five times and at one point recorded 54 consecutive wins and a whopping 140 straight conference victories. His overall women’s basketball mark was 358-57, including 226-37 at Taylorsville, where his teams never lost a home game. He also taught at Forest Hills and North Iredell. The Taylorsville gym was named in his honor and he coached the West in the 1959 North Carolina Coaches’ Association East-West women’s all-star basketball game.
July 8, 2019
