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<p>A minute had ticked off the clock during pregame warmups. The head basketball coach was nowhere to be found.</p><p>Another minute passed. The Dallas Mountaineers continued through their layup drill. Still no coach.</p><p>Then, through a square of glass in a steel door, Mark Belenski peeked out at his new team. He walked onto the gym floor at Nanticoke as a head coach for the first time in three seasons &#8212; and for the first time since a personal tragedy changed everything in his life.</p><p>Rewind to Oct. 13, 2012. Belenski was about to embark on his sixth season as head coach at Holy Redeemer. Official practices were less than a month away.</p><p>It was a Saturday. Belenski and his wife, Debbie Darling Belenski, headed to Doylestown to meet up with the maid of honor from their wedding 26 years earlier and Debbie&#8217;s cousin. The four headed to the shops at Peddlers Village.</p><p>About 1 p.m., and with the weather not cooperating, the group decided to break for lunch. Debbie headed to the restroom. Belenski took a seat at the table.</p><p>&#8220;The next thing I hear is a lady saying, &#8216;There&#8217;s a lady down in the restroom,&#8217;&#8221; Belenski said.</p><p>Belenski immediately ran into the restroom and found Debbie lying on the floor. He first thought she may have passed out, but as he started CPR, he knew there was no hope.</p><p>Debbie was life-flighted to Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia. She died of a brain aneurysm at age 51.</p><p>&#8220;We went down there for a good time and that happens,&#8221; Belenski, 53, said. &#8220;It stinks. Thirty years we had been together.&#8221;</p><p>The Belenskis had no children, just each other. They were inseparable. Debbie was there when Mark coached Bishop O&#8217;Reilly to state championships in 2004 and 2005. She sat just behind the bench during games when Mark became the first head coach at Holy Redeemer in 2007. Paul Guido, his assistant coach at the time, recalled fondly Debbie&#8217;s passion for the game. Yelling, screaming, jumping up and down &#8211; she did it all, said Guido.</p><p>Debbie was into fitness, mainly running and aerobics and was in better shape than most women her age. A brain aneurysm, though, rarely shows symptoms.</p><p>&#8220;The surgeon said, &#8216;Mark, if it was going to happen, it was going to happen. This was the time,&#8217;&#8221; Belenski said.</p><p>Mourners packed Gate of Heaven Church in Dallas for Debbie&#8217;s funeral. So many people showed up, Guido said, many couldn&#8217;t get inside.</p><p>About a month later, official basketball practice arrived for Redeemer. Belenski considered resigning after Debbie died, but friends and family told him basketball would be therapeutic. Basketball was a significant part of his life. He had played at Wyoming Valley West until he graduated in 1980, after which he became an assistant at his alma mater and at Dallas.</p><p>When the Bishop O&#8217;Reilly job opened, Belenski was hired and kept ninth-grade coach Guido on as part of his staff. Together, they led the Queensmen to two state championships. The Catholic school merger in 2007 condensed four schools into Redeemer and Belenski took charge.</p><p>Success continued as the Royals made three consecutive state appearances, including advancing to the Class 3A quarterfinals in 2010-11. The team struggled a bit in 2011-12 and was knocked out of the district playoffs in the final seconds.</p><p>Hopes were high for the following season, but Belenski had trouble staying focused. There were times, Guido said, Belenski&#8217;s mind was anywhere but on the basketball court.</p><p>&#8220;He was struggling,&#8221; Guido said. &#8220;He would look at me and say, &#8216;Get ready to go today at practice.&#8217; He was struggling that day and he knew it. It was such a great loss and tragic loss for him, I think it was even harder for him than even he anticipated. He really did think basketball would help him, but I think, at some points, basketball was the last thing he cared about.&#8221;</p><p>The players were affected in their own way. Many were close to Debbie and dealing with loss for the first time. They wanted to make Belenski proud of them, but the harder they tried, the worse things became.</p><p>&#8220;I think it was hard on us because we wanted to win for him so much,&#8221; said Mike Boutanos, the starting point guard in Belenski&#8217;s final two seasons at Redeemer. &#8220;We put an added amount of pressure on ourselves. He&#8217;s not used to losing. Losing as a coach is hard enough, but when that&#8217;s not even your biggest problem. I mean, I don&#8217;t know how he got through it.&#8221;</p><p>Redeemer&#8217;s season ended in the district playoffs with a 29-point loss to GAR. The Royals finished 9-13, their worst record in school history. Belenski resigned shortly after the season ended.</p><p>&#8220;Paul did a great job and helped me out as an assistant,&#8221; Belenski said. &#8220;It was something I needed to do to get my mind off of what had happened. But my mind never got off what had happened. And it still hasn&#8217;t got off of what happened, but you got to move forward.&#8221;</p><p>Belenski removed himself completely from basketball to focus on getting his life back together. He formed The Walk For Debbie&#8217;s Darlings, a one-mile charity walk around the track at Dallas High School whose proceeds are used to buy backpacks for underprivileged children in the Dallas and Lake-Lehman school districts and at Catholic Social Services.</p><p>The charity also awards scholarships at Dallas and Holy Redeemer since Debbie was known for her charitable work and community involvement.</p><p>The support from family and friends also helped. Belenski cited Norman Darling Sr., Debbie&#8217;s father, for playing a crucial role in simply providing an ear as they both worked their way through the sudden loss.</p><p>So did Guido, who took over as Redeemer&#8217;s head coach. The two talked or texted nearly every day. Basketball was never discussed until about the middle of last season.</p><p>&#8220;Then I started getting the calls and the text messages,&#8221; Guido said. &#8220;Questions about opponents.&#8221;</p><p>Guido sensed Belenski wanted to get back into the sport. He was right. Dallas and Wyoming Valley West opened their coaching positions and both wanted him.</p><p>Belenski picked Dallas over his alma mater, with the proximity to his home a big factor.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a Spartan, but I&#8217;ve been in Dallas for 30 years,&#8221; Belenski said. &#8220;So I&#8217;m actually more of a Dallas person than a Spartan.&#8221;</p><p>When Belenski assembled his Dallas staff, he brought along a former assistant at Bishop O&#8217;Reilly &#8211; Debbie&#8217;s brother Joe.</p><p>Dallas presents a different challenge. The team won just four games last season. Unlike Belenski&#8217;s past two gigs at Bishop O&#8217;Reilly and Redeemer, basketball doesn&#8217;t reign supreme at Dallas where football, which has a state championship, is the biggest sport. The boys soccer team also played for a state title and is a perennial contender and baseball is well entrenched.</p><p>A boys basketball banner inside the gym is barren with only a 1984 district championship and a 2012 Wyoming Valley Conference title affixed to it.</p><p>Belenski&#8217;s debut ended in a 53-47 loss to Nanticoke, considered one of the top teams in the WVC. But he spoke highly of his players who hustled, competed and pushed the Trojans for 32 minutes. And he looked invigorated.</p><p>A few days later, the Mountaineers knocked off GAR.</p><p>&#8220;I was there to scout Nanticoke because we played them,&#8221; Guido said. &#8220;But I was also there to see Mark. He looked awesome. I thought he was doing great. I was so pumped for him. I talked to him beforehand and told him, &#8216;Just have fun. You&#8217;re going to have a blast. You&#8217;re going to love it.&#8217;</p><p>&#8220;I think he was a little nervous at first, but when I was watching him &#8211; and I ended up watching him more than the game &#8211; he was great.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Mark Belinski, the widower of Debbie Darling, addresses a crowd of friends and supporters before the third annual Walk for Debbie&#8217;s Darlings in August at the Dallas High School football stadium. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Darlings-3-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mark Belinski, the widower of Debbie Darling, addresses a crowd of friends and supporters before the third annual Walk for Debbie&#8217;s Darlings in August at the Dallas High School football stadium. </caption0><photoCredit0>Charlotte Bartizek | Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120815Belenski2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dallas basketball coach Mark Belenski gives instructions during a game against Nanticoke Area Dec. 5. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120815Belenski2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Dallas basketball coach Mark Belenski gives instructions during a game against Nanticoke Area Dec. 5. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120815Belenski3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dallas basketball coach Mark Belenski talks with his team during the game against Nanticoke Area Dec. 5. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120815Belenski3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Dallas basketball coach Mark Belenski talks with his team during the game against Nanticoke Area Dec. 5. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120815Belenski1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dallas basketball coach Mark Belenski shouts instructions to his team during a game against Nanticoke Area Dec. 5. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120815Belenski1-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Dallas basketball coach Mark Belenski shouts instructions to his team during a game against Nanticoke Area Dec. 5. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Mark Belenski returns to game of basketball after personal loss</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>