Cascade’s New Coach was next on the bench
Justin Amaya has been Cougar Basketball Assistant after success at Amity, Lebanon
He calls it the opportunity he has been waiting for.
38-year old Justin Amaya has been named as the new head boys basketball coach at Cascade High School in Turner. He replaces Calvin Molan, who directed the Cougars to the 2022 State 4A Championship this spring.
Amaya—who had served the last three years as an assistant girls coach at Cascade, is decidedly thrilled about his chance to coach the boys team.
“I am super-excited about Cascade,” says Amaya.
“It is a special place. We will work with athletes to be successful on the court and in the classroom. I am glad for the confidence that the school had in hiring me.”
Amaya and Cascade officials were caught off guard by the sudden vacancy at head coach when Molan stepped down to work as superintendent of a Bend area golf course.
Amaya’s hiring is part of a massive turnover in Cascade athletics. The Cougars have a new Athletic Director (former Silverton AD James Rice), football coach (Tyler Turner-former JV coach), and girls basketball coach (long-time assistant Nick Randall).
Amaya waited his turn at Cascade after extensive coaching success earlier in his career. Amaya directed Amity High School to the state playoffs in his second season with the Warriors, and advanced to the post season four times, including the state tournament three times. Amaya was also named as West Valley League coach of the year three times during his tenure. Ironically, one of his former Amity players, Devin McShane, has just been named as Warriors head coach.
For Amaya, the Cascade opportunity comes after a vagabond journey that began over a decade before as an assistant under longtime Cougars boys coach Steve Ball, and included the stops at Amity (beginning in 2011), Silverton as an assistant (2016-17) and Lebanon (2017-18). He says that Cascade will be his last stop on his journey as a teacher and coach. Amaya works as a skills trainer, counseling Cascade students with problem solving skills among other things.
Amaya inherits a loaded roster left over from the 2022 championship campaign. Just two players are being lost to graduation.
“This is one of the most talented teams I have ever been around,” says Amaya.
“We have a target on our backs—so there is an emphasis on ‘together.’”
Amaya held a mini-tournament involving mostly 3A and 4A schools this past weekend at the former Hoop facility in Salem, and at Cascade High.
He is hosting a youth camp this coming week in Turner. It is open to first through eighth graders, and will run from 1:00 to 3:30 pm Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at Cascade High.