CONVAL HOOP HERITAGE

Peterborough High dominated the 1940-'41 Class B all-tournament team: Front: William Turner of Groveton. Second row: Paul Valla of Lebanon and Rusty Ames of Peterborough. Back row: Bob Gooch and Clarence “Boomer” Brenner of Peterborough, and Donald Lambert of Lebanon . I n the first week of March 1941, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” starring Carol Lombard and Gene Raymond, along with a Disney cartoon, were playing at the Gem Theater in downtown Peterborough (what is now the Coopershill/Peterborough Community Theater building). A new Buick could be yours for just $915. Various citizens were advertising why they were running for town office (Overseer of the Poor seemed to be a hotly contested one). The upcoming Town Meeting dinner at the Town House would get you potato and egg salad, sliced ham, baked beans, and choice of bread, pies and coffee—all for 35 cents. An oh by the way, the Peterborough High boys’ basketball team won another state championship! Buried among several other front page

M onday fun-day … Our CV hoop heritage has shown that this @farside.comics cartoon is spot on! In the 1994 state finals, for example, the Cougar girls used a high-pressure defense against Souhegan that sparked their offense and helped avenge their only loss of the season—and produced the school’s only girls’ hoop title thus far. The same year, it was Jaime LeFlem ’s defensive steal of a last-second inbounds pass by Lebanon that led to championship-sealing free throws for the boys’ team. In 1986, a stifling defense that forced high-scoring Fall Mountain out of its comfort zone for much of the game helped propel the Cougar boys to the school’s first hoop title. And it was said of the undefeated state champion Peterborough High team of 1936 that “the local defense was impregnable.” On a smaller scale, while there were critical 3-pointers, layups and foul shots in the final minutes of Friday night’s game, it was that same hand-in-your-face “D” by POG Jake Daniels (pictured) and his Cougar

W e’ve mentioned before how since the 1920s, traveling well to the other school’s gym has been a strong part of our Conval hoop heritage. These pics aren’t from last night (January 27, 2023), but they very well could have been. Shout out to the student section who showed up @Milford large, non-stop loud, funny, on their feet, and staying positive during many tense moments. You’re carrying the torch well—know that it makes a huge difference to the team (especially on the road). (Thanks to Mike Munhall at mikemunhallphotos.com for the pics!)

Wow! …Not only was it a big night for @joe.gutweinn  (pictured) and the boys tonight in Milford, it may have been an historic 62-57 OT win. Apparently, student video of the final .7 seconds of regulation showed that Milford’s game-tying basket was after the buzzer. If so, we think it’s the first time in CV hoop history that the Cougars won the same game twice! (Thanks again for the great photos, @mikemunhallphotos.com)

G otta love our hoop heritage fashion, right down to the Hoosiers-era satin uni, short-shorts, and black canvas high-tops. Sporting the cool look were members of the 1949-‘50 Peterborough High team while receiving words of wisdom from coach John Cate . Front from left: Gene Tansey, Wilfred Cabana and Ronald Blanchette . Back row: Bob Clark, Donald Paquet and Phil Perry .

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

Butch Walker and the Hilanders, making hoop history in 1961-'62. A lthough Peterborough High School had many winning seasons in its storied history, the 1961-’62 Hilanders were big news that winter, posting the best regular season record (16-3) of any PHS team from 1955 to the final year of 1969-’70 before becoming part of Conval Regional. (Notice that Antrim High was having a pretty good year, too!) Led by forward Butch Walker (pictured), who tallied 341 points in 17 regular season games, Coach Ed Lithgow 's Hilanders mowed over all opponents with the exception of losses at Wilton and Milford. Although Walker was leading scorer, throughout the season, the team featured balanced scoring from the likes of Dave Kendall, Bill Kuendig, Dennis Shea, and Mike Gavitt (former star Dave Gavitt ’s brother). Other contributors were Al Reynolds, Neil Springfield, Doug Little, Pete Smith and Dick Mackey . In the 1962 Class M (D3) tournament against Gotham, while Walker led the way with

  The headline in that week's Peterborough Transcript doesn't tell half the story. I n the 1976-’77 season, the Conval boys’ basketball team played one of the toughest schedules among all Class I (D2) schools, and even observers from the NHIAA to coaches around the state admired the grit and talent of the Cougars against much bigger teams. But at 11-7 and heading into their next-to-last game on February 18, 1977 at highly-ranked Fall Mountain Regional, the Cougars knew they needed a victory and another the following Monday at Pembroke, and help from other teams to qualify for the state tournament. Little did they know on the long bus ride to Langdon that night that it would go down as one of the most improbable and miraculous endings to a game in school history. Hundreds of fans journeyed with the team to encourage them in what was considered at the time to be one of the most difficult gyms in the state for a visiting team to win. After a see-saw contest in which both teams to

Members of the historic 1969-'70 Antrim High girls' team (front, from left): Judy Cole, Susan Beauchamp, co-captains Beth Jones and Bonnie Rockwell, Shelley Barsanti and Marcia LaMonda. Back row: Coach Alan Page, Ruth Brzozowski, Nancy Jones, Laurie Barsanti, Patricia Desaulniers, Wanda Martel, Terry Patterson, Amy Webber, Heidi Pettengill, Tammy Durgin and manager Lorraine Elliott. A lthough sports historians have documented that girls in New Hampshire played basketball interscholastically before the boys, and communities like Peterborough played host to invitational state tournaments in the 1930s, there was no official girls' state championship or tournament until the NHIAA’s large school (Class AA) event in 1970. Smaller schools (Class A) didn’t have their first official champion until the 1971-'72 season. But if those tournaments had begun a few years earlier, the Antrim High Warriors would surely have been one of the favorites to win it all. 1969-'70 champions

T here is, as Tom Hanks said in A League of Their Own , “no crying in baseball,” and there are no snow days in basketball, either. We love this pic of Ryan Wilson (CV ’25), who doesn’t let winter weather deter his passion for growing in the game. In the spirit of Hoosiers ' Jimmy Chitwood’s relentless shooting at his rustic farmyard hoop, Ryan's passion is like that of many other basketball players in our small towns down through the decades who have jimmied gym door locks, crawled through church gym windows, dribbled basketballs wherever they’ve walked, and have not let darkness, bent rims, rickety backboards, cold, rain, or snow deter their love of the game. Shout out to Ryan and others like him who are carrying on the all-out tradition that has made our Conval Hoop Heritage so rich and enjoyable. In the words of former NBA great Tim Duncan: “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.”

T his might be one of the coolest old-school action photos we’ve come across yet. Fifty-five years ago, January 19, 1968, John LaRoche (pictured at left) scored 28 points as Peterborough High defeated Newport, 59-42. Joining John in going for the rebound are Carey Buxton (12) and Tim Wheeler (20).  The Hilanders finished 15-8, including a second place finish in the Monadnock League Christmas Tournament, and a Class M (D3) state tournament win over Oyster River. It marked Peterborough High’s final year in Class M, moving up to Class I (D2) where Conval High remains to this day.

Members of some of Coach Richard's teams who were on hand Tuesday night to honor their legendary leader included (from left): Tod Silegy '71, Dick Ellingwood (back) and Mike Crowe '75, Steve Smith '72, Ray Abbott '74, Coach Richard, Kent Richard '78 (back), Athletic Director Kevin Proctor '95, and Paul Boule '72. A t halftime of the Tuesday night, Jan. 17, game with John Stark, alumni and current students took time to honor a Conval coaching legend, Ray Richard . Coach Ray was Conval's first-ever boys' basketball coach, and while leading the Peterborough High Hilanders and the Conval Cougars from 1967 to 1978, he accumulated a record of 163-98. Ray also  assisted Conval's storied hoop program through their championship run in the mid 1990s. On Jan. 11, 1974, vs. Monadnock, Coach Ray picked up his 100th win in a thrilling double overtime victory, 63-61. The game ball from that night, with all the signatures of the players from that historic ‘7

W e think that this year's edition of Cougars may have just experienced an historic week in Conval's hoop heritage. Coach Jay Starr's team played four games in five days from Friday to Tuesday, winning three of them! The Cougars ran their 2012-13 season record to 6-2 with victories over Merrimack Valley on Friday, Oyster River on Monday afternoon, and John Stark on Tuesday night. A powerful Manchester West team handed Conval its only setback ofthe week on Saturday night. The team now gets a break until next Tuesday (Jan. 23) when they play host to a strong Coe Brown squad. #highschoolbasketball #perseverance #justwinbaby #historymakers #rollcougs

Coach Ray Richard, pictured with co-captains Bill Bishop and Kevin Keenan of the final Peterborough High School team in 1969-'70. R ay Richard, Conval High’s first boys’ basketball coach and the first to reach 100 wins, will be recognized at halftime of tonight’s game with John Stark. The ball from that 100th victory in the 1973-74 season, signed by Coach Richard’s players, will be placed in the school’s trophy case. The following article on Coach Ray’s retirement from coaching is adapted from a 1978 column in The Peterborough Transcript: T he buzzer sounded and Ray Richard stood with fingers locked behind his neck, his elbows covering a disappointed face. His players, those who were on the bench, sat glassy-eyed and hunched over. The starters, drained physically and emotionally, dragged themselves to the sideline. Laconia fans cheered, knowing their team had won, 50-45. Richard walked over to shake hands with winning coach Rick Knowles, took another look at the scoreboard, and pu

O n Feb. 20, 2020, the longest regular season game in Conval basketball history took place at Manchester West where the Cougars prevailed over the Blue Knights in 5 OTs! It was an unforgettable game of punch and counterpunch, and seemed destined to go on forever. The referees were the happiest of all when it was finally over. But the longest game in our hoop heritage, as far as we can determine, was a late 1970s holiday tournament in Hanover where Conval defeated Johnston, RI in 10 OTs! Holy cow! #highschoolbasketball #overtime #thatscrazy #rollcougs

  Above, old-school Peterborough High boys' team; below, '92-'93 Cougars experiencing the tension of the game. F un Friday facts …from an old state tournament program: When basketball was invented in 1892, it was supposed to be a non-contact sport.   Considered a “sissy’s” game by many, “many a fight was required to prove manhood.” A soccer ball was one of the first balls used. Backboards were added to prevent spectators from interfering with the ball. Today’s starting five began with a starting nine. In the earliest days, three fouls gave an automatic point to the opponent, and running with the ball or double-dribbling counted as a foul. For many years, a foul shot specialist came off the bench to take the shots. The first game ever played ended in a 2-2 tie. The second was 2-0. In New Hampshire, girls played interscholastically before the boys. Some things, thankfully, never change… “Basketball is a provoker of stirring emotions. Its action is rapid and its intense moment