CONVAL HOOP HERITAGE

L ast night, forward Max Cail fell hard while going for a rebound. Quickly, Conval athletic trainer Chris Lundsted ('10) took him into the locker room to be evaluated. Fortunately, Max was able to continue. But stories like this one at Spaulding High in Rochester make us grateful that Chris is seen on standby at every home game, and just about every sport, year-round. Because you never know. Not every school has this benefit. Thanks, Chris and Conval, and kudos to Spaulding High athletic trainer Jon Mousette . Prayers for complete healing to athlete Matt Gould !

L ike 2024, as the season wound down in 1951’-52, hopes for the following year were high in Conval Nation... The Peterborough Hilanders (pictured)—with players who would be elderly grandfathers today— had a rough go of it, finishing the regular season at 4-13. But these young guys would improve the following year and be among the elite in Class B in 1954 and 1955. Teaming with a one-loss JV team from 1951-’52, Peterborough High would be sparked by freshman sensation Dave Gavitt —a player remembered for giving his all and his leadership. including rallying his teammates for a shoot-around after losing the 1955 tournament game. Shown in the photo are (front, from left): Phil Bailey, John Twomey, co-captains Jack Harris and Jimmy Yakovakis, Eddie Wheeler and Dave Gavitt. Second row: Coach Dick Snow, Harry Clough, Tom Lawrence, Buddy Charest and assistant manager Tod Hofer. Back row: Bob Durkee, Don LaFontaine, Bill Taylor and manager Phil Petts . Yakovakis, Clough and Taylor were all f

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

T his pic of the 1911 Peterborough High basketball team is believed to be one of the earliest basketball team photos ever published in Conval Nation. Although area high schools had been playing for at least seven years, this week in 1913 saw one of the first reports of games in the local newspaper. Photos in early newspapers were rare, and text dominated the four-page Peterborough Transcript on February 13, 1913. The paper, however, did document the weather that week: “Ten below zero Monday morning, and winter ever since. The slight, soft snow of Tuesday helped out the sleighing some, although it is thin over the hills. Ice has formed rapidly during the past few days, and it is being harvested in all directions at present, and is being hauled on sleds.” Wow!   As for one of the first-ever local “basket ball” news items, the Transcript reported: “There will be two games at the town hall, Friday evening, Feb. 17, when the Wilton High and the Peterborough High will meet for the first time

Adam Adkins (left) and CJ Sullivan celebrate Cougars' stunning upset over Pembroke in 1989. A college basketball commentator said recently that the most dangerous team come tournament time is not the one with the best record but the one that is on fire.   The 35th anniversary of the Conval Cougars basketball team and their unlikely pursuit of   the Class I (D2) championship fit that description… and was the stuff of which makes basketball fans’ blood boil with excitement and wonder. Coach Frank Davidson ’s Cougars began the 1988-’89 season in relative obscurity, playing close to .500 ball in a gym that was half closed. Unbeaten Merrimack Valley with eventual New Hampshire basketball standout Scott Drapeau , and highly-ranked Pembroke with shooting sensation Matt Alosa , had captured everyone’s attention and were early season favorites to meet for the Class I title in three months. But a Christmas tournament at Bishop Guertin High in Nashua suddenly changed that focus. “Who is this

1964, the first of a several state championships in cross country and track for Peterborough High. B efore its merger into Conval High in the fall of 1970 , basketball was king at Peterborough High—with five state championships, and no other sport coming close. Until the fall of 1964. Led by the determination and expertise of Coach Bill Yeo (pictured at right), the Hilanders won their first of four consecutive Class M-S (D3-4) cross country state championships. It marked the first time since 1941 that a state championship, and other than basketball, had come to Peterborough. Participating in the 1964 trophy presentation were (pictured above, from left): Ken Taylor, Coach Yeo, Murray Latti, Nat Mason, Steve Gorski, Jack Thibeault, Jim Kearney and Ken Sutcliffe . Coach H. William “Bill” Yeo, who served as a science/biology teacher at the high school since 1959, was instrumental in igniting the most successful sports program in Peterborough High history. He recruited in the hallways, an