ELKHART – Longtime Jimtown High School girls basketball coach Gene Johnson has announced that this will be his final season on the bench.

Johnson begins his 34th season in charge of the Jimmies’ girls program with the 2015-16 opener tonight at LaVille. The game was rescheduled from tomorrow night due to the LaVille football team playing in a sectional championship game Friday night.

Johnson has amassed a 335-345 record in his 33 seasons at Jimtown. His 2006-07 team, led by standout Steph Wagner, earned the Class 2-A state runner-up finish. The Jimmies lost to Heritage Christian, which was led by standout Kelly Faris (who went on to star at UConn) in the state championship contest.

Johnson also coached Kim Barrier, who won Miss Basketball honors in 1986.

Johnson was also a longtime assistant football coach at Jimtown under Bill Sharpe. He helped the Jimmies claim four state championships and two runner-up finishes on the gridiron before stepping away from that sport following the 2013 season.

Johnson cited a desire to spend more time with his grandchildren as one of the factor for his deciding to leave coaching at the end of this basketball season.