What LeBron Said...
The Peterborough High 1953-'54 squad, the first to qualify for a state tournament since 1945. Front (l-r): Bernie Cutter, Wayne Crowell, Dave Gavitt, Eddie Wheeler, Ron Bailey and Roy Vezina. Standing: Coach Dick Snow, Dick Cashion, Don Lafontaine, Tony Brown, Bob Brown, Pete Lawrence and manager Bill Andrews.
Do you know what LeBron James said?…
At the start of the 1954-55 season, there were 41 candidates for the Peterborough High boys’ teams—an astounding number, since there were just 41 members of the senior class!
The year before, the Hilanders became the first team in nine years from the school to qualify for the state tournament. Clearly, the memories of being a juggernaut in New Hampshire high school basketball, coupled with the fact that basketball was the only game in town during winter, had stirred interest to record levels.
About 70 seasons later, 30-plus boys tried out for basketball this year at Conval High, where the senior class is about five times that number. But times are different—the boys alone can try out for skiing, ice hockey, and wrestling, in addition to three basketball basketball teams. Add ‘em up, and the numbers are probably comparable to the basketball-crazed 1954-55 era,
But there is one similarity in 70 years of Conval hoop heritage: make way for the underclassmen!
And do you know what LeBron James said?…
In 1954-55, 35 of 41 Peterborough High boys had no varsity experience—none. And in 2023-24, no one on the starting five for the Conval boys—and not one of the entire girls’ squad—is a senior. Like the ’54-’55 Peterborough High team, where “a large aggregation from last year’s jayvee club have also reported” and “the majority of the candidates come from boys trying out for the first time,” so it is with the 2023-24 Conval boys and girls.
Welcome to the circle of life in high school sports, where unlike college and the pros, there are few transfers, and no portals or drafts. It’s beautiful. Teams are led by seniors, and then they are not. Teams of underclassmen who wrestle for position one year are among the best the next year or the year after. The chances of dynasties are few. The chances of also-rans suddenly vying for the top spot are many. And if and when your team is full of underclassmen…
It is here where coaches become teachers and encouragers more than coaches, wearing out their clipboards.
It is here where teams are on fire one night and ice cold the next.
It is here where fans don’t know what to expect from one game to the next.
But it is here where players somehow emerge from obscurity, where confidence grows with each passing game, and where those few returning veterans say and show, “C’mon, this way!”
(The story is told how one of Peterborough High’s few returnees, Dave Gavitt—he of Providence College coaching fame and co-founder of the Big East conference—would sneak into the gym whenever he could to practice foul shots. He later won the state contest for best free throw shooter! See “From Tournament Heartbreak, a Legend Emerges.”)
But best of all, it is here, in underclassmen land, where LeBron James’ words ring truest and loudest:
"To be the best, you have to work the hardest. You have to chase what seems impossible over and over and over again, because giving up is not an option. And when you feel like you've reached your limit, it's only the beginning—that’s when it's time to dig deep, to find the courage to push some more.”— LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
What LeBron James said. #gocougs
