With an increase in responsibilities looming as an administrator in Central Point School District 6, Scott Dippel has chosen to step away from his position as head coach of the Crater girls basketball team following his second stint at the helm.

Dippel informed his players and fellow coaches following Saturday night’s Class 5A state championship game in McMinnville, and the official paperwork was set to be distributed Monday morning to the district office.

In January, Dippel was chosen to be the new principal at Crater High School starting in the fall, when he will undertake a transition from the school’s current organization of three small schools with three principals under the Crater High umbrella into one school under one principal.

“The change in my job is the reason,” Dippel said Sunday night of his decision. “I’m moving to a comprehensive high school and becoming the principal and it’s a much different day job than before.”

Dippel, 47, said it was not an easy decision to step away from the Comets but one that he felt best in order to ensure that he’s giving full attention to his No. 1 job in the district and also doing right for a girls basketball program that he’s invested so much time and energy in maintaining.

Crater nearly provided Dippel with a storybook ending after reaching the championship final Saturday, but the Comets were unable to hold onto a 17-point lead in the second half and wound up suffering a 61-60 overtime loss to top-seeded Silverton.

“If things would’ve gone a little differently last night it would’ve been kind of a storybook,” said Dippel, “but the tournament itself was still kind of icing on the cake, really, for what’s been the season we’ve had.”

The Midwestern League champion Comets finished the season with a 26-2 record and became the fourth team in school history to end as the state runner-up (1998, 2000, 2001, 2024).

This was Dippel’s seventh season at the helm after returning from a previous five-year run that began in the 2002-03 school year, when he moved from assistant coach to David Heard to the head position.

In 12 seasons overall, Dippel collected a 208-49 overall record with three conference titles, three league coach of the year honors and advanced to the state playoffs each year.

The timing of the decision comes as a bit of surprise given that Crater expects to return four starters — including Dippel’s senior-to-be daughter Addi — and seven players overall from this year’s roster for 2024-25.

“Obviously, I think the expectation that people had was at least I’d stay until Addi graduates,” said Dippel, “because this is a really talented team that’s returning. This junior class has played a lot of games together and sometimes you maybe hand off teams at a different time, but I think this is the perfect opportunity for someone to come in and be successful and push them and get them to continuously grow. The cupboard’s full and it’s a great opportunity for somebody to come in and keep the tradition going.”

The Crater girls basketball program has played a huge role in Dippel’s life since Heard first made him an assistant coach in the 1998-99 season.

The ebb and flow of it has included surgery for a brain tumor in March of 2003 after he had suffered a seizure in December of his first season as head coach. He thought he had likely finished coaching girls basketball when he stepped down from his position prior to the birth of his first child, but three daughters overall in Addi (17), Harper (12) and Macy (10) brought him back into the fold as he took over as a Junior Comets coach when Addi was in fourth grade.

It was only after Heard had served a second stint of his own as head coach that Dippel agreed to take over the reins on an interim basis again for the 2017-18 season.

“When David decided he was going to leave we sat down and looked at candidates and he asked me if I would just coach for one year and then we could search again with some teaching openings,” said Dippel. “I’ve had seven one-year deals, I guess, ever since.”

The second run, given the special attachment he’s enjoyed with the current group, has been truly special.

“This last stint has been the most rewarding, for sure,” said Dippel. “I couldn’t really ask for a better season to end with just super supportive parents, wonderful kids, a lot of success and a lot of milestones this year. You don’t usually get a chance to go out in those kinds of situations, and I think I was really blessed to have the season that we had.”

Dippel said his decision is the right move for this time period, but there’s no telling what the future may hold.

“Even when I was out I was coaching Junior Comets,” he said of his first hiatus, “and I’ll continue to coach my middle and my youngest daughters on their teams. I love it. I love the teaching piece. As I’ve been an administrator, it’s kind of been that really strong kid connection thing that I could keep.”

“I just love teaching and I love the competition and I love the camaraderie,” added Dippel. “I’ve had a great relationship with our local officials and the personalities and things that are around basketball here in the Rogue Valley.”

Dippel said the girls basketball position will be posted Monday and an interview process will follow. Given his administrative status, he will join those involved in choosing the right successor, and won’t be far off should that coach want to meet for a Sunday coffee or whatever may come.

“I’m fortunate enough that I’m staying at the same high school and I’m not making those big changes,” he said. “I’m going to still be at every game. I’ll probably wander in on some practices if the coach wants me to, you never know.”

“I was joking with Dave Heard that we’re going to be like the two old guys in the Muppets sitting up in the stands,” Dippel added with a laugh. “We’re there to help, though.”

Dippel has served as an educator and principal at the elementary, middle and high school levels over the past two decades. He served as principal at Jewett Elementary School, Patrick Elementary School and Hanby Middle School for more than 16 years and, most recently, as principal of the Crater School of Business Innovation and Science.

Dippel has remained in that administrative position since the announcement and will continue there until the end of the school year while preparing for the 2024-2025 academic year, when the Crater Academy of Health and Public Service, Crater Renaissance Academy and Crater School of Business Innovation and Science will be phased out in favor of one unified educational institution.