Timberline basketball coach wheeled out of state tournament with COVID-19 complication
Timberline High girls basketball coach Andy Jones missed most of the second half of his team’s state tournament game Thursday due to lingering effects from a previous coronavirus infection.
After complaining of chest pains last weekend, doctors discovered blood clots in both of his lungs Monday. They warned him to keep his blood pressure down or risk a stroke.
After Jones’ systolic blood pressure spiked to 192 at halftime and 188 early in the third quarter, trainers took him back to the locker room at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa in a wheelchair.
A systolic pressure of 130 or 140 is considered high, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A pressure higher than 180 is a “hypertensive crisis,” according to the American Heart Association.
Jones did not return to the game.
“I promised my wife I would be semi-responsible,” he said in a phone interview Thursday night. “And if my blood pressure got too high, we’d have to do something.”
Jones said doctors wanted him to go to the emergency room Thursday night. But after paramedics arrived and measured his blood pressure again, it had dropped and he returned home to rest.
Assistant coach Jacob Doherty led Timberline for the rest of Thursday’s game, which the Wolves lost to Mountain View 65-52. Jones said he will not coach the team Friday and likely won’t return Saturday either.
“I think I’m done for the tournament,” Jones said.
Jones said he was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Dec. 29 and went to the emergency room Dec. 31 complaining of chest pains. He missed the Wolves’ season opener while in quarantine but was cleared to coach the rest of the season.
The chest pains returned last weekend worse than ever, Jones said, leading to a CT scan that discovered clots in both lungs. Doctors also found a developing one in his left leg and remnants of one in his right leg.
Jones said he had clots in his right calf five years ago, so he believes he’s predisposed to them.
Jones said he felt lightheaded at halftime and others claimed he was discolored. But he said he felt fine otherwise. He added he felt much better Thursday evening.
“The blood thinners appear to be working, and hopefully the clots break up,” Jones said.
Jones is one of the state’s most decorated basketball coaches. He won six state championships at Middleton and Caldwell, the second most for a coach in Idaho girls basketball history. And he’s restored Timberline into a perennial contender in his third season.
This story was originally published February 18, 2021 at 7:43 PM.
