Remembering Conval's 'Big Green Machine'

-


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.

The 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 Giovannangeli’s freshmen battled Coach Brown’s JVs tooth and nail in the first half of the showdown, building a 33-28 halftime lead. They led by as many as 10 before the junior varsity rallied to take a two-point advantage heading into the final period.


An enthusiastic crowd was on its feet for much of the final minutes, with members of the varsity team leading the cheers for both teams. The JVs, led by Carl Newton and Rick Davis, came through in the final seconds to give them a hard-fought 61-57 win. The freshmen were led by leading scorer Joe Reilly with 28 points, and despite the loss to their bigger brothers, several of those freshmen went on to make significant contributions with the varsity program.


In all, the three boys’ teams opened the first year of Conval High in fantastic style, compiling an overall record of 40-18! 


A winning tradition was born.

Popular posts from this blog

Hail to the Chief

-
Image
Antrim High's Ed Coughlan, December 1965...more than a force on the court. P erhaps it’s a rural New Hampshire thing, but the nine towns that send students to Conval High—the Contoocook River bending its way around several of them—have long been interconnected. Each town is unique in its own way, and yet there is this sense that when you cross the town line from, say, New Boston to Francestown, you have entered Cougar Country as much as you’ve entered one of its nine towns. Last year’s boys’ basketball starting five, for example, represented five different towns. And when you explore our region’s hoop history, those interconnections keep popping up. In 1964, for example, when Antrim High was alive and well, little would Conval fans realize that Antrim’s long-time basketball coach, Chick Hamel, would one day become CV’s first assistant principal. (See “Paving the Way” ). And one of Chick’s star players in 1964 would one day become a legend in Hancock for many years. “You don’t have
Read more

50th Anniversary: When Conval Slayed a Giant

-
Image
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
Read more

When Hardly Anybody Noticed

-
Image
I n the 1963-’64 season, the Peterborough High girls basketball team quietly compiled its second straight 7-2 season. A remarkable achievement that was so quiet, unlike today, hardly anyone noticed. Coach Barbara Rowe felt her team was “entitled to at least an athletic energy” for the performance. Yet, as the Peterborough Transcript reported, “the girls play to minuscule audiences, and have none of the fanfare, publicity or public attention that go to other sports and activities. There are no dramatic reverberations when the team takes off quietly for the away games, or when it is playing at home.” What happened? Unlike today, girls’ basketball up until 1970 hardly resembled the fast-paced five-on-five style exhibited by the boys. The girls’ game was six-on-six, with three forwards who could score on one half of the court while three defensive guards stayed on their own half of the court until the opposition crossed it. One player for each team was considered a rover and could travel
Read more