History of Nailbiters

-

Noah Stewart battles for a rebound with two Souhegan opponents during a 2022 regular season game.

Whenever the Conval and Souhegan boys’ basketball teams meet, it’s a good bet that it will be a down-to-the-wire battle.

Longtime neighborhood rivals in just about every sport, the boys’ basketball games in recent years between the two schools have achieved historic status for nail biters...

Of eight games played since the 2018-19 season, five have gone to overtime (!)…and one was decided by three points.

The spirited rivalry resumes tonight (Jan. 10) in Amherst, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the historic trend continues. (Photo courtesy of Mike Munhall @mikemunhallphotos.com)

(Update: Sometimes, history trends hit a speed bump. The defending state champion Sabers prevailed on their home court, 51-40.)


#highschoolbasketball

#newhampshire

#nailbiters

#OT

#convalnation

#sabernationshs

#historymatters

#rollcougs

Popular posts from this blog

A Great Coach Who Built a Great Program

-
Image
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...
Read more

What a Season Opener

-
Image
The 1976-’77 Conval boys basketball team finished the season at 12-8 and were eked out of state tournament consideration by percentage points. But they began the year in early December in an unbelievable way—opening at the (old) Boston Garden against eventual state champ Exeter as a preliminary to a Boston Celtics game. The diminutive but scrappy Cougars were no match for the taller and talented Blue Hawks, bowing 63-50, but the memories of playing hoop on the same court as Dave Cowens, Jo Jo White and John Havlicek were unforgettable. Several hundred Conval fans journeyed to Boston, but the late Coach Ray Richard said, “we could hardly tell they were there—the Garden is so big.”  Team members included (left to right): Bill Watson, Ken McTague, Tom Bartlett, Phil Abbott, Jay LaRoche, Scott Slade, Jon Barnes, Kent Richard, Mike McTague, John Tempone, Craig Whitney and John Guidotti . But there was more to this story! Check out: Games We Will Remember: The Garden and the Editorial ...
Read more

The Undefeated Season

-
Image
Undefeated Class B state champs... (front, from left): Harold Clukay, Milt Fontaine, Eddie Blanchette, Robert Barry and Ken McLeod. Back row: Coach John Clark, Carl Erhler, Donald Dupree, Charles Lindsay, Donald Mulstay, Robert Clukay and George Eastman . T he winter of 1935-36 was much like our current winter—bone-chilling cold, snowy and long. But unlike today, when there are so many options, and so many different sports, and so many distractions of every kind, there was just basketball for entertainment and hometown pride. Basketball, boys and girls, helped citizens get through the long winter—if you followed the teams from December until late February or early March, and many did, you made it through the worst of it. And around these parts, you made it in style... For a tiny New Hampshire town, Peterborough was among the kings of basketball. Its boys teams just knew how to win. From 1930 to 1941, they won five state championships—including a three-peat in 1930, 1931 and 1932—and pl...
Read more