Jamestown assistant coach Marty Stockwell laughs with Carson Panebianco during Wednesday’s ECIC Division 1 boys basketball game against Lancaster at McElrath Gymnasium. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

Marty Stockwell sits at the scorer’s table of a nearly empty McElrath Gymnasium on Wednesday afternoon, a pencil in his right hand as he tallies the statistics from Jamestown’s 84-44 Erie County Interscholastic Conference Division 1 boys basketball victory over Lancaster.

That seems fitting.

While his vocation is teaching math at Jamestown High School — crunching numbers is second nature to him — his avocation is basketball, a sport he played at a high level at JHS, Jamestown Community College and Lake Erie College. But Stockwell’s figurative clock as an assistant coach at his high school alma mater is winding down as the Red & Green’s schedule pushes past the halfway point of the regular season.

On Oct. 30 of this year, he is retiring, leaving those two professional and personal passions behind.

Stockwell says it’s time.

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The win over the Legends yesterday was hardly a nailbiter, so Stockwell’s unmistakable voice from the bench wasn’t heard too often because the game was so one-sided. The numbers tell the story: Jamestown shot 54% from the floor, led by 20 points at halftime and put an exclamation point on it all by pouring in 31 points in the third quarter.

It’s been that kind of season so far for the Red & Green under head coach Billy Miley, who is in his second season after taking over from legendary coach Ben Drake, who stepped down after the 2022-23 season.

But Stockwell, as he’s done since assuming an assistant position more than two decades ago, has remained a critical voice in the program, which is one of Western New York’s finest year after year.

“It’s hard to even quantify what he’s meant to the program,” Drake said of Stockwell. “He’s been through it all. Marty is such a humble guy who loves basketball. He’s never cared who gets the credit for anything. He’s just always willing to do whatever needs to be done.”

Said Stockwell: “It’s always been about the program. The program is bigger than any player, any coach or any team.”

So while he admitted that it will be hard to give it up when this season ends, he’s confident that there will be someone who will step in and fill that role.

“I’m sure I’ll be around, hanging out, coming to games still,” he said, “but it’s time for somebody else. I’m sure a lot of coaches last year were like, ‘Thank god Drake’s gone. We’ve got a chance to get Jamestown.’ And we go to the state final four again.”

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More than 20 years ago, Drake and Stockwell would often arrive at McElrath Gymnasium early in the morning before school started for the day and engage in a game of 3-on-3 with members of Jamestown’s varsity team. Keep in mind, the 90-minute sessions were not for the faint of heart.

“They were serious games,” Drake said. “We didn’t come down to have fun. We came to win.”

Drake, who was an all-SUNYAC player during his collegiate days at SUNY Brockport, recalled that when they finally had to call it quits, Stockwell had a postgame ritual.

“Marty would come in (the locker room) and literally wring his T-shirts out into the sink,” Drake said with a smile. “Then he’d put his clothes on and go to math class.”

Asked if Stockwell had time for a shower, the Jamestown athletic director offered a one-word response:

“No.”

Then he laughed out loud.

Still, the success of the Red & Green, which is 12-1 heading into Friday’s game at St. Joe’s, is nothing to joke about, Stockwell maintained.

“This season it’s been more of the same, but who knows?” he said. “Obviously, the program is in good hands. … It seems to be going in the right direction. That’s what it’s all about.”