Column: Basketball pal was no Ordinary Joe ... not by a million 3-pointers

Joe Marsh's passion and fight for girls basketball at Arlington High School was unmatched in strength - so much that he took terminal cancer to double overtime

Joe Marsh, who led Arlington girls basketball since 2011, and was recently inducted into the WSGBCA hall of fame, died May 7 after a five-year battle with cancer. / Photo by Vince Miller

My first introduction to Joe Marsh was on a magic-carpet ride.

It was in 2013. At that point, I had more than a few WIAA state basketball tournament games under my belt. Days were long. Games often ran together as teams were shuffled on and off the big court.

But that year ... a pesky, perimeter- and pressure-oriented squad from Arlington High School took the Tacoma Dome by storm, all led by Marsh, its rangy, fiery second-year coach.

The Eagles' unexpected championship bid fell short to powerhouse Mead in the Class 4A title game, but that wasn't the end of my introduction to Marsh.

Even though we were located 70 miles away from each other, I began inadvertently bumping into him - scouting South Sound high school games, attending University of Washington women's games. Wherever there was a basketball bouncing, Marsh (and his quickly-fading hairline) was usually somewhere in the vicinity.

His alma-mater teams were always winning - eight Wesco championships, three District 1/2 titles and seven WIAA trophies, including two state runner-up finishes. (2013, 2016).

Quick hellos led to chats - which then led to lengthy talks as he quickly became one of my trusted sources for all that was going on in the girls basketball world in Washington, especially after I joined start-up SBLive Washington in 2019.

Marsh, who was recently inducted into the Washington State Girls Basketball Coaches Association (WSGBCA) hall of fame, also became a friend, which is rare in the sportswriter-meets-coach world.

Which is why my life filled with sadness Wednesday when I received the dreaded correspondence I had been anticipating for days: Marsh, 57, had died in home hospice after a four-year battle with stage IV prostate cancer.

His death has flooded me with past memories - the important games I covered, the annual summer lunch reunion at Red Robin in Arlington and all the comparing-notes conversations we had about girls basketball (which is what coaches and sportswriters like to do).

Marsh loved basketball, which brought him great joy in life. And after his cancer diagnosis in 2021, it also brought him a great deal of strength to keep fighting - to keep coaching.

In late January, I checked in with Marsh, whom I knew had been absent from the bench after another health issue. He had just had emergency surgery, and was in the midst of a 33-day stay in the hospital.

It was then when Marsh - unable to walk anymore - told me he would not coach again.

And right before the WIAA championships. we spoke again. He admitted more bad news - the cancer had spread and there was nothing more doctors could do to treat it. He said he was entering home hospice where his wonderful wife, Sharon, and two daughters (Keira, Fiona) would care for him.

After the state tournament, I visited Marsh one final time at home March 13. He was laid up in his comfy captain's chair in the living room so he could watch NCAA postseason basketball.

It was also one of the days all of his siblings were in town from the East Coast, including his younger brothers (and nephew) who, like Marsh, were former-players-turned-coaches.

Imagine the hilarity that comes with four coaches and a sportswriter sitting n the same room together for an extended period? It was three hours of non-stop stories and roaring laughter.

By the end of the visit, Marsh became noticeably tired. But he also meekly smiled with delight. It was an extended escape back into his natural element.

I softly hugged Marsh as I said goodbye, knowing it would be our final interaction.

He leaned over and thanked me.

No, Joe, we should be thanking you - for all you gave unconditionally to basketball, right to the end.

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