CONVAL HOOP HERITAGE

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!

F resh off their fourth state championship in six years, one of Conval’s predecessors—the Peterborough High Hilanders—geared up for a 1937 season that won’t soon be forgotten: It was the last year when a center jump didn’t take place after every basket!  Nothing like the old glory days, but we definitely like the “new” rule much better! The Hilanders were coached by the legendary John Clark (pictured far right). They won five championships from 1930 to 1941, and were state runners-up three times. Members of the ’37 team, which would fall in the first round of the invitational tournament at UNH, were the starting five (front, left to right): Charlie Lindsay, Brian Keenan, Donald Dupree, Bob Clukay and Bob Berry . Second row: Norm Davidson, Bob Dart, Gibby Carlson and Roland Myhaver. Back row: Arthur Mosher, Ervin Diamond and John Lindsay .

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 ...

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...

I n the winter of 1954, “Attn. Coach Snow” was the local newspaper’s prompting of Peterborough High coach Dick Snow to pay attention to this hot-shot junior from Hancock High, Bud Adams. It marked the last year that Hancock High would field a team as the town opted to join Peterborough in the fall of 1954. “The Friday triumph scored at the expense of arch-rival Antrim stands a chance of becoming one of the most glorious in the school’s history,” wrote the Peterborough Transcript. “Bud Adams, clever HHS guard and a good hoop prospect for any schoolboy squad (he’s only a junior) scored no less than 31 points as his team set back Antrim on the latter’s court, 59-41. This was Hancock’s tenth game of the season, and their lone victory.” The last Hancock High squad was a young one, with only one senior, guard Forrest Weston . The others were sophomore forward Gale Hennessey and seventh grader (!) Butch Kimball , and center sophomore Bob Kierstead (who scored 18 points against Antrim). Co...

A "Cave" welcome for Sam Davis ... Meanwhile, there was this kid (team is anonymous) who never got into the game last night but was the ultimate teammate and listened to the coach during time outs. He sat at the front of the bench instead of at the end. He was totally engaged, even though he never got in. Wow. Every team needs this guy. Someday, there will be a sweet "W" for varsity and a couple more for the JVs. But it's kids like this who are building for the future.

  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!

Y ou’d never know the home team was still searching for its first win Friday night... There was a big crowd. The student section was there in force as usual. The cheerleaders were yelling and imploring the team from the get-go. Ryan Close (pictured at an earlier game) was his usual on fire self. But while two starters were injured and in street clothes, the kids on the bench—mostly freshmen and sophomores, and junior Ryan Wilson —were called upon to fill the gap. And did they ever. The bench chanted “de-fense!” and players scrapped and clawed for loose balls. And even when the game became out of reach, there were never any signs of dejection or “we give up.” Good to know that the long-standing pride of Conval Nation was in full force. And while we can’t help but think of all those winning teams of the past, Someday, we know we’ll see that first W (boys and girls) go into the books like a championship. Until then, keep doing what you did tonight…never give up!

I n the 1963-’64 season, the Peterborough High girls basketball team quietly compiled its second straight 7-2 season. A remarkable achievement that was so quiet, unlike today, hardly anyone noticed. Coach Barbara Rowe felt her team was “entitled to at least an athletic energy” for the performance. Yet, as the Peterborough Transcript reported, “the girls play to minuscule audiences, and have none of the fanfare, publicity or public attention that go to other sports and activities. There are no dramatic reverberations when the team takes off quietly for the away games, or when it is playing at home.” What happened? Unlike today, girls’ basketball up until 1970 hardly resembled the fast-paced five-on-five style exhibited by the boys. The girls’ game was six-on-six, with three forwards who could score on one half of the court while three defensive guards stayed on their own half of the court until the opposition crossed it. One player for each team was considered a rover and could travel...

Members of the 13-1 Hancock High squad of 1951-52 (front, from left): Bud Adams, Dick Quinn and Bob Brooks. Second row: Coach Joe Courteau, Bill Stearns and Al Prime. Back row: Lee McMahon, Ed Dow, Forrest Weston, Gale Hennessey and Bob Kierstead. (Prime and McMahon were from Stoddard .) I n 1954, tiny Milan High School in Indiana shocked the high school basketball world by defeating Muncie Central High School—a school ten times its size—for the Indiana state championship. The stunning victory was the inspiration for the legendary basketball movie “Hoosiers.”  Two years earlier, one can only wonder if tiny Hancock High School would have been the New Hampshire version of that famous movie... Finishing the 1951-52 season with a 13-1 record, and with only about 50 students in the entire school. the Blue Devils earned the third seed in the state Class C (small school) state tournament, held that year in Claremont. Hancock’s only loss was to Troy, with the two teams tied atop the Southe...