The End of the Stall

-

Ryan Close heads up court.

It’s evident from this mikemunhallphotos.com photo from a recent home game with Milford that CV guard Ryan Close wants to advance the ball into the forecourt. But that wasn’t always the intention of players back in the day when a key but frustrating strategy for teams with the lead was…stalling!

This year marks the 90th anniversary of two NH high school basketball rule changes that we have come to take for granted—the 10-second backcourt violation and the three-second violation in the paint. At the 1933 state tournament at UNH, Bob Dow, sports editor of “The New Hampshire,” explained the update to fans:

“The new basketball rules which have been innovated this year have done much towards speeding up the game, and as a result have made the game a bigger and better drawing card. With the new rules in force, the possibility of stalling has been eliminated…The first rule [backcourt violation] does away completely with the old time practice of a team that was ahead in the closing minutes holding or freezing the ball in its own backcourt, thereby slowing up the action, and minimizing the chances of their opponents overtaking them. The second rule [3-second violation] also eliminates stalling, as under the old rules the center was able to hold the ball with his back to the basket inside the foul circle for an indefinite period, or until one of his teammates broke loose underneath the basket. With the new rules in force this year, no team that has appeared on the local court, having a lead in the closing minutes of the game, has been able to stall or slow up the game.”


…And all the fans ever since have said, “Amen!”


#highschoolbasketball

#newhampshire

#rulesofthegame

#historymatters

#goRyan

#rollcougs

Popular posts from this blog

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

Remembering Conval's 'Big Green Machine'

-
Image
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...
Read more