Idaho high school basketball coach dies from injuries sustained in car crash before playoff game

Greenleaf Academy's district championship game was ruled a no contest; community mourns a multi-sport coach, teacher

The head girls basketball coach at a small Idaho high school died after she was involved in a car crash before her team's district championship game on Thursday.

An announcement to Greenleaf Friends Academy's Facebook page Friday morning said Loma Bittick, a teacher and coach, was involved in a "serious automobile accident" and sustained injuries she later died from. 

Bittick was a math teacher and the head volleyball and girls basketball coach at the school. Her husband Jim Bittick, who is also coaches the girls basketball team, was also in the car during the crash and is in a stable condition at a hospital, the school said.

The Grizzlies' game against Liberty Charter scheduled for Thursday night was ruled a no-contest and both teams were named co-Idaho 1A Division I district champions. 

"Thank you for your prayers for our students, faculty, staff and the greater GFA Community," the school said in a Facebook post. "Greenleaf has a rich and established history of coming together in moments like these. We support one another and it is in our fellowship that honors and glorifies our Lord Jesus Christ."

School was cancelled Friday at Greenleaf Friends Academy, as was its boys basketball against Rim Rock Friday night. The girls team (17-4) will play its state tournament opener on Thursday at Columbia High School.

Greenleaf is roughly 35 miles west of Boise near the Idaho-Oregon border.