Members of the powerful 1970-’71 Conval High freshmen team (front, from left): Joe Reilly, John Davies, Mike Fontaine, John Cuddihee and Ed Lennon. Back row: Manager Hunter Carbee, Steve Sawyer, Bruce Paro, Jim Carlson, Ray Abbott, Don Blair and Coach Art Giovannangeli. T he very first freshmen basketball team at Conval High in the 1970-’71 season was known as the Big Green Machine, for two reasons: They mowed down nearly every opponent on their schedule, and until new uniforms could be ordered they wore the old green and white uniforms of Peterborough High. The frosh, dubbed “Baby Cougars,” finished the season 15-2 and overwhelmed many an opposing team. At season's end, they challenged the Junior Varsity team to a duel to determine underclassmen basketball supremacy at Conval. “Insiders contend this would be a contest pitting the powerful frosh offense vs. the equally tough junior varsity defense,” noted JV Coach Ray Brown. Pegged as 30-point underdogs by some, Coach Art Giovanna...
The 1993-'94 state champs, after knocking off Lebanon in the finals. One week and a day after cheering on the girls’ basketball team in their amazing 1993-’94 championship run, it was the boys’ turn to pursue an elusive title. Many in Conval Nation wondered out loud about the possibility of both Cougar teams reigning as state champs. Tied with Lebanon for the best record in Class I (D2) at 17-1, the prospects of an impossible dream basketball monopoly couldn’t be ignored. But there would be no overconfidence with this bunch of warriors as they faced an incredibly painful tournament history and a cruel fate to one of its key players… T o fully appreciate the Conval boys’ second state championship in school history in March of 1994, you have to go back to a year earlier... ...And the year before that. And even five seasons earlier in 1989. Each year, the Cougars made it to the championship game as favorites. Each year, they bolted to early leads and looked every bit the part of cham...
Key to a shocking 1974 quarter-final win over Lebanon was Ray Abbott's (25) work on Raider big man Doug Murphy (21). Photo: Ernie Hebert, Keene Sentinel O ur Conval Hoop Heritage has had more than its share of highs and lows come tournament time, but in the history of the Regional, few tournament games will ever match the 50th anniversary drama of the 1974 Class I (D2) quarter-finals against Lebanon. The 1973-’74 Cougars, coming off a 12-8 season in which the returning players felt “never gelled,” was loaded with speedy, athletic, good shooting veterans: Ray Abbott, John “JD” Davies, John Cuddihee, Ed Lennon, Paul Krulis, Joe Reilly, Mike Crowe and Marshall White . But small—very small. Among the starters, senior Ray Abbott was the tallest of the bunch at 6’2” and sharp-shooter John Davies was next at an even six feet. Newcomers to the team were Ted Davies, Mark Sizemore, Peter Jennson and Doug Smith . The task ahead against a brutal Class I schedule seemed formidable, but Coa...