East Lyme — It was during a quieter moment, not long after last season ended, that a parent of basketball player at East Lyme High recalled the pain of one win, 19 losses. Suddenly, her face brightened.

“But,” she said, “at least we have the right coach now.”

Whoa. Think about that one for a minute. In a time around high school sports when they want to flog some coaches for going 19-1, they actually still liked Jeff Bernardi after going 1-19?

And now we’re seeing exactly why.

Indeed, the Maroon Five that mustered one win last year has five already, very much a Jeff Bernardi Production. The feel good story of the season.

Bernardi: A high school player at Guilford and 2007 graduate of Hamilton, an excellent program within the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Bernardi spent five years as an assistant coach at Valley Regional, during which the Warriors won two state championships. And yet he traded Deep River for deep you-know-what in East Lyme, picking up the pieces from a program yearning for the days of Dan Spellman.

“It’s different here in the sense that Valley was in the state championship game three times in four years,” Bernardi was saying earlier this week. “I was fortunate enough to work with talent every year I was there. There were a lot of things that I took for granted in coaching, things I didn’t have to teach. When I came here, that was an unanticipated expectation, how to set screens, the pick and roll, stuff I never had to teach before.

“The winning and losing last year didn’t really bother me,” Bernardi said. “I didn’t expect to go 1-19, but the players worked hard. We got noticeably better as the year went on. It was a pleasure working with that group.”

Not nearly as much of a pleasure, though, as surveying his home gym one night last week. A rear end affixed to every seat. Friday night with Waterford in town. Full house. Full throat. And what became the first win over the Lancers since 2010. East Lyme’s 12-point lead shrunk to one late in the game, but his players found the resolve to hang on and experience the night of a lifetime for some of them.

“It was big for us because that was our first significant win against a real quality opponent,” Bernardi said. “Getting those early wins (over Lyman Memorial, Conard and Jonathan Law) were huge to get the players to buy in, but we know how good Waterford is. Our players have played against (Waterford senior) Landon Peabody and company their whole careers. And last year, they blitzed us by 40.”

Maybe nobody else personifies the new dedication to basketball better than senior Christian Brown, who has emerged as a league player of the year candidate in the ECC. Brown, who looks like a strong safety now, credited his work at G’s Fitness and Nutrition with the belief that comes from playing for his coach.

“We knew about his experiences at Valley,” Brown said. “But what we learned last year as we adjusted to him was how dedicated he is to us.”

Valley coach Kevin Woods, among the best coaches in Connecticut, knows.

“Jeff is very intense but at the same time he is able to connect with players,” Woods said. “He had a huge impact on our program and he helped develop many players. I am very happy for him.”

Bernardi’s work extends beyond the high school. He knows, especially at a high school without the “choice” designation, that you can’t pick your roster. You get what you get. That means you better dive into the town’s youth programs.

“They’ve had good teams here,” Bernardi said. “Being a Class L school, there’s a population here. But I knew it wouldn’t happen in a year. If I got my hands into the feeder programs, I could develop a culture. I’ve put a lot of effort into that.”

And yet in a year, the gym is full of people, hope and wonder.

“This town,” Brown said, “wants basketball back in it again. It’s very exciting.”

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius