Girls First

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The 1949-50 PHS girls' team practicing.

In the early days of New Hampshire high school basketball, girls competed interscholastically before the boys. Eligibility was vague at first, with reports around the state of alumni or even a coach playing with the team away from home. Both boys and girls games, along with town league games, were consistently front page news in the Peterborough Transcript.

The local paper often referred to the girls team as “lassies” (this was before days of mascots) and players were at one time identified as “Miss Jones led the scoring.”

Pictured are members of the Peterborough High 1949-50 team, under the stern eye of Coach Alice Bubriski. Next to her is manager Paula Durkee. Four of the starters (from left) are Mary Myhaver, Eleanor Johnson, Jane Emerson, and Barbara Hannon. That season, the girls often played before the boys’ game in the Town House.

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