CONVAL HOOP HERITAGE

Senior guard Paul Boule set four scoring records in helping the Cougars to a surprising second season in 1971-72 Sitting with three friends amidst a mob of people at Bow High School last night while watching the D3 semifinal between Kearsarge and Mascoma, one of the friends commented: “Sure is good to enjoy a game with no vested interest.” The longtime parent of a basketball playing family knew the opposite feeling. Tonight, Conval kids weren’t playing. We could relax. Still, we could all relate to the tournament environment, and the tension, and the people who drove a long way from home to support their team. In the chaos, someone asked how the Conval boys made out the other night, and we said they won, and it looked like they might be in this sort of environment, too, in a couple of weeks. Barely alive, but alive nonetheless. Where have we seen this before? And in a moment, there was a flashback to another Conval team that barely got into the playoffs, and the great story they told… ...

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...

Conval seniors Jamie Wasserloos (31) and Kevin Proctor (42)—oh hey, we know that guy!—applied a smothering defense on Monadnock during the 1994-’95 season. This was the  “golden era” for New Hampshire high school basketball, which boasted numerous outstanding teams, and players who have become legends of the game. It was also a golden time for Conval High, which the year previously had won the Class I (D2) championship and was a finalist the previous two seasons. The ’94-’95 team almost reached the finals, too. Third-ranked at 16-2, the Cougars, led by 1,000 point scorer Jaime LeFlem , battled back from a 16 point deficit against top-ranked Oyster River in the semi-finals, holding a slim 58=57 lead with 15 seconds left. But another legend of the game, Keith Friel, hit a 15-footer with four seconds left for a pulsating Oyster River 59-58 win. The Bobcats went on to win the title in 1995. What a game, what a season, what an era!

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...

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 ...

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...

  W ith Rick Davis (40) and Fall Mountain defenders in his face, Dan Valley (44) grabs a rebound for the Conval High JVs  in the 1970-'71 season. In their first year of existence, the varsity, JV and freshmen boys finished a combined 40-18!

Steve Phelps and Conval fans celebrate 1984 state tournament quarter-final victory against Laconia. I n a game for the ages , the 1983-’84 Cougars (15-5) found themselves matched up with unbeaten Somersworth (20-0) in the state tournament final four. It was a tense game from the start before a packed house in Durham, and though their lead was a mere point in the final seconds, the Hilltoppers hung on for a 61-55 victory. But it was what happened afterwards that was the story within the story... On the near side of Lundhom gym, hundreds of proud CV followers rose to their feet and gave their team a standing ovation—appreciation not only for the season, but for the heart-stirring effort against the Class I (D2) eventual champions. But at the same time, the applause was directed at Somersworth. It was, you see, a fan’s ultimate game—great, intense sportsmanlike play by both teams. The kind of game where a fan doesn’t get irritated when the other team wins. Meanwhile, on the other side of ...