Milan V. Tatala believed in up-tempo basketball long before the term was in vogue.

"He was like a forerunner among coaches who believed in running and pressing," said his son, Milan L. "Skip" Tatala, who played for his father at the former Stowe High School.

"He loved to run. He had the idea that kids don't get tired."

Dick Cetrone, who played on Mr. Tatala's first varsity teams in the mid-1950s, said: "He was not an X's and O's coach. He was offensive-minded and his teams scored a lot of points. Our gym was small. Teams didn't like to play us there."

Mr. Tatala, 93, a lifelong Stowe resident, died Wednesday of pneumonia and cancer. He was a retired health and physical education teacher.

He was head coach at Stowe from 1952-66, then for the next 10 years at Sto-Rox, a merger of Stowe and McKees Rocks. Mr. Tatala retired in 1976, his resume including a 413-94 record and 11 section titles.

"His teams got to the [Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League] semifinals a couple of times," said Skip Tatala, a retired teacher and tennis coach at Moon High School. "There were two classifications then, A and B. We had a B enrollment, but always played up."

He said his father, like many of his peers, had a reputation for being tough. "But he was fair."

Mr. Cetrone concurred. He grew up across the street from the Tatalas, and after playing at the University of Cincinnati with the fabled Oscar Robertson, he was hired at Stowe and assisted his scholastic coach for 16 seasons. Mr. Cetrone later coached the Sto-Rox boys' team for 15 years.

"Everybody called him 'Mil, even the players. It was a sign of respect. I don't remember anyone grumbling about him," Mr. Cetrone said.

"I know he liked to win. That's what fired him up and fired his teams up."

Mr. Tatala graduated from Stowe in 1931, then in 1935 from Slippery Rock College (now Slippery Rock University), where he played football and basketball. He taught health and physical education at Stowe while earning a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh in the early 1940s.

Basketball was his athletic trademark, but Mr. Tatala also was an assistant football coach at Stowe for 17 seasons and a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association football official for 41 years.

Mr. Tatala is a member of the Western Pennsylvania Basketball Coaches, Slippery Rock University and Sto-Rox halls of fame.

He is survived by two sons, Milan of Moon and Stevan of Windgap; a daughter, Toni Lee of West Palm Beach, Fla.; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Visitation will be from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. today and tomorrow at Anthony M. Musmanno Funeral Home, 700 Seventh St., Stowe.

There will be a blessing service at 10 a.m. Monday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Mount Calvary Cemetery, Kennedy.