CONVAL HOOP HERITAGE

The 1993-'94 state champs, after knocking off Lebanon in the finals. One week and a day after cheering on the girls’ basketball team in their amazing 1993-’94 championship run, it was the boys’ turn to pursue an elusive title. Many in Conval Nation wondered out loud about the possibility of both Cougar teams reigning as state champs. Tied with Lebanon for the best record in Class I (D2) at 17-1, the prospects of an impossible dream basketball monopoly couldn’t be ignored. But there would be no overconfidence with this bunch of warriors as they faced an incredibly painful tournament history and a cruel fate to one of its key players… T o fully appreciate the Conval boys’ second state championship in school history in March of 1994, you have to go back to a year earlier... ...And the year before that. And even five seasons earlier in 1989. Each year, the Cougars made it to the championship game as favorites. Each year, they bolted to early leads and looked every bit the part of cham...

  The first-ever Conval High boys' basketball champs of 1986 (caption below). Bottom row, Sean Crowley, Chris Merrifield and Al Johnson H ardly anyone saw this one coming—the stunning, first-ever boys’ basketball state championship for Conval High in the 1985-’86 season.   A young team with just two seniors—co-captains Chris Merrifield and Sean Crowley —the Cougars began the season stumbling at 1-4 and trying to find their bearings. The inauspicious beginning was marked by the first-ever loss by a Conval team at Kearsarge, and home games in cold December and early January played before sparse crowds.   But something clicked during a January home loss to powerful Fall Mountain. Turnovers diminished, the offense became more cohesive, and the defense ramped up with tremendous intensity. Suddenly, the team few had noticed reeled off nine wins in its final 10 games to finish the season in fifth place with a 12-6 record. Quiet confidence building among players and coaches prom...

Dick Blood, Bill Bishop, Tod Silegy and Paul Boule...Making headlines in the winter of 1971. T he 1970-’71 basketball season will long be remembered for two things—it was the first year that the name Conval Regional High School made its presence felt throughout the state, and it was arguably one of the greatest teams from top to bottom in the 50-plus years of CV history. It was a team many were convinced could run the regular season table and take on the Class I (D2) giants of the North Country, defending champion Littleton, in a state title showdown. That tantalizing prospect, even before the days of social media, was the talk of the towns and even in knowledgeable basketball circles around New Hampshire as the pre-season got underway in late November. The “where is that?” team from Conval featured a veteran, skilled roster pulled mainly from the ranks of the final Peterborough High team, plus the valuable addition of a smooth junior playmaker from Antrim High who had seen varsity ex...

W hen the invitational state tournament at UNH was divided into two divisions in 1930, Peterborough High was selected by the tournament committee every year but one in the 1930s and through the 1941-’42 season —a remarkable string of 12 of 13 seasons as being recognized as one of the top hoop programs in all of New Hampshire! From the 1930 to 1937 seasons, Peterborough High held the best record of anyone in the state in Class B, won the championship four times, and claimed runner-up twice.  Wow! Because of gas rationing due to the war effort, no tournament was held in the 1943 season, but Peterborough High was again among the elite invitees in 1944-’45. Two seasons later, the New Hampshire State Athletic Association, now the NHIAA, took over administration of the tournament that we know today.   One of the many elite teams from Peterborough High during the golden hoop era of the 1930s and 1940s was this one from 1936-’37 that had a surprisingly successful season after returnin...

M any veterans of Conval Nation remember taking business law, bookkeeping or typing (yes, typing) classes with Ron Crowe over the first 30 years of the high school. What many forget is that “Mr. Crowe” is a legend in our hoop heritage! From the 1964 season at Peterborough High through the 1994 state championship run at Conval, Ron was the official keeper of the scorebook—30 years! In paying tribute to Ron’s dedication to youth, the community, and basketball as he prepared to pass the scorebook onto the next volunteer, the Peterborough Transcript wrote: “With endless enthusiasm brought on by love for the game, and the young people who came through the school system over the years, Ron was a fixture at home basketball games—logging in the names, keeping track of time outs and personal fouls, tallying up the scores. When the team went on the road, Ron and wife Priscilla became loyal fans in the stands. Later all three boys—Mike, the late Steven, and Rick—would star for the varsity, and d...

  O ur Conval hoop heritage includes 11 Cougars who have scored more than 1,000 points in their career. But did you know there is one more in our midst? In the 1998-’99 season, a senior center at Mascenic High School named Jason Starr scored his 1,000th career point, becoming only the third player in Viking history at that time to accomplish the feat! We’re grateful Coach Starr has brought that kind of leadership to Conval Nation! Good luck, coach and team, tonight at Hanover, and in the upcoming D2 state tournament!

A big road win last night (Jan. 31) at Sanborn Regional, and a bit of history, too, as Joe Gutwein became the first Conval player to score 40 points in a game since Brett LeFlem tallied 42 vs. Milford in 1997! From our viewpoint, however, it seemed like a “quiet” 40 because of the tremendous team effort from start to finish that led to a 61-49 win.  

Peterborough High dominated the 1940-'41 Class B all-tournament team: Front: William Turner of Groveton. Second row: Paul Valla of Lebanon and Rusty Ames of Peterborough. Back row: Bob Gooch and Clarence “Boomer” Brenner of Peterborough, and Donald Lambert of Lebanon . I n the first week of March 1941, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” starring Carol Lombard and Gene Raymond, along with a Disney cartoon, were playing at the Gem Theater in downtown Peterborough (what is now the Coopershill/Peterborough Community Theater building). A new Buick could be yours for just $915. Various citizens were advertising why they were running for town office (Overseer of the Poor seemed to be a hotly contested one). The upcoming Town Meeting dinner at the Town House would get you potato and egg salad, sliced ham, baked beans, and choice of bread, pies and coffee—all for 35 cents. An oh by the way, the Peterborough High boys’ basketball team won another state championship! Buried among several other front page ...