Author: KJ Cardinal

Whaley’s new book journey takes him to Boston

Our very own Mike Whaley is working on a new book project on National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Basketball in New England. Last week his N.E. journey took him to Boston and Fisher College, the last NAIA school in New England. Whaley interviewed Fisher players, coaches and administrators, and also got to attend the Fisher vs. Vermont Tech men’s game, the first college hoop game in the nation, which tipped off at midnight. Fisher overcame a pair of 10-point deficits in the second half to tie the game and then won in overtime over Vermont Tech, 100-99, last Thursday morning at historic Hellenic College’s Pappas Gymnasium – former practice facility of the Boston Celtics in the 1970s and 1980s.

Christian Finney was the hero for the Falcons. He scored a layup at the buzzer, gathering in a three-quarter court baseball pass from Ke’Andre Penceal to force overtime, and then converted a three-point play with 11 seconds to play in OT to put Fisher ahead for good. The Knights were unable to get off a shot to win the game in the waning seconds.

Dakota Gillespie and Penceal led Fisher with 29 and 25 points, respectively. Jalen Anderson added 16 and Finney tossed in 15. Tyler Allen led Tech with 27 points.

Whaley’s book project explores NAIA basketball in the region from its start in the late 1940s to today with interviews with players, coaches, administrators and fans. New Hampshire NAIA colleges are featured in the book, most notably Franklin Pierce University, Keene State, New England College and old Nathaniel Hawthorne College in Antrim. Whaley’s travels have also taken him to Bangor and Rockport, Maine; Keene, NH, and the New Haven and Hartford areas of Connecticut. NBA coaches Stan Van Gundy and Steve Clifford have NAIA New England roots that figure prominently in the book. Whaley plans to release the book – tentatively titled “Floor Burns” – in the summer/fall of 2024. Whaley can be contacted at whaleym25@gmail.com.

Great Bay CC hoop climbs into national spotlight

By Mike Whaley

Alex Burt has proven beyond doubt that you can get there from here. When Burt took over the Great Bay Community College men’s basketball program in December of 2018, he inherited a team that had never won more than five games and was in the midst of a second canceled season in which he used to recruit players for the 2019-20 season.

Things got better, but it took some time and some patience.

The Herons went 9-13 in 2019-20, setting a program-record for most wins. After the Covid-19 pandemic forced GBCC to miss its third season in four years in 2020-21, the team came back the following year to go 13-12, the first winning season, and win the program’s first playoff game in the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC).

After a breakout 2022-23 season, Dover’s Kinglsley Breen will play a key role this year as the GBCC hoop team looks to return to the USCAA Division II National Tournament. [Mike Whaley photo]

The Herons took a huge step forward last year as the addition of Dover’s Kingsley Breen and former UMaine-Machias standout Theo Wolfe sparked a 22-9 record, a trip to the conference championship and an at-large berth in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Division II National Tournament in Richmond, Virginia. GBCC came in as the 10th and final seed, upsetting the number seven and two seeds en route to the USCAA final four. Their Cinderella run ended with a 69-61 loss to Miami-Hamilton. Burt was named USCAA D-II Coach of the Year.

Great Bay is officially on the basketball map now, made even more apparent with its recent ranking as the number three D-II team in the nation in the USCAA preseason poll. The USCAA is a national college organization, like the NCAA, that caters to both two-year and four-year schools. While Great Bay is a two-year school, athletes there do have the option of playing a sport for four years in the USCAA for GB.

“Last year we were the sleeper school,” said Burt, a Dover-native who starred at Dover High School and Plymouth State University. “People kind of knew what we were up to, but no one gave it respect. We always felt we had to do more just to get seen by somebody throughout the league. This year it’s going to be a totally new experience for me, a totally new experience for all of our guys. We’ve kind of got a target on us.”

Breen, who earned All-American honors, feels the Herons still have a point to make. “We’re trying to still stay the underdog,” he said. “Historically we haven’t been up there with everybody. We still have to prove ‘OK, we’re here. This is not just a fluke.’”

GBCC’s Theo Wolfe was a key part of last season, averaging a double double. [Mike Whaley photo]

The Herons certainly have what it takes to make another run, led by three returning starters: Breen, Wolfe and senior Bryce Gibson from Auburn, Maine. The trio are the team’s top returning scorers: Breen (16.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg), Gibson (16.2 ppg, 42.5 3-point pct.) and Wolfe (15.4 ppg, 12.2 rpg).

The big void to fill will be that of two-year standout and defensive stopper Alex Taveras of Portsmouth, who is now a preferred walk-on at the University of New Hampshire. Taveras led the YSCC in 3-point shooting (45.9 pct.), while averaging 12.8 ppg and 5.5 rpg.

GBCC has a good crop of incoming players, while returning role players like former Kingswood Regional HS star Ethan Arnold and Dover’s Cam O’Brien could expand their parts in support of the starters. 

GETTING THERE

Before Burt took the job, there had been three seasons with three different coaches resulting in the following: 4-19, 5-18, no season. Nothing to write home about.

In fact the Herons had already canceled a second straight season when Burt took the job in 2018, which eventually turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

It wasn’t, however, pretty right out of the gate. “That year the idea was just to fill a roster,” Burt said. “The early going was difficult.” In talking to players and parents he had to, of course, tell them there was no team at the moment. “But I’m here to create one,” he said. “The selling point wasn’t really there.”

But Burt persevered and it wasn’t long before he was able to get a half dozen players on board, including N.H. Division IV Player of the Year, Hunter Bullock from Epping, Londonderry’s Ethan May, a N.H. Division I All-State player, and another all-state player from Epping in Dylan Desrosier, who had been on a previous GB team, and who hung around for four years and was part of last year’s final four squad. Another recruit was Jordan Williams, an all-state player from Maryland. The biggest pick-up turned out to be George Mortimer, a former Traip Academy star, an older player who had played a year at the University of Southern Maine in 2011-12 and went on to be GBCC’s leading scorer.

“Once I got some kids in the door, I started getting all-state kids in the door. It snowballed from there,” Burt said. “I was able to put together a roster that would at least somewhat compete in the YSCC.”

The Herons turned a massive question mark into success, going 9-13.

But then Covid hit, and the following season was canceled, the third time in four years that the Herons did not have a season. 

GBCC guard Bryce Gibson had a breakout season last year, averaging 16.2 ppg and finishing second in the YSCC in 3-point shooting. [Mike Whaley photo]

But GBCC made the best of it, as difficult as it was. The big positive for Burt was that he was able to double down on recruiting. If not for that Covid year, it’s unlikely that the Herons would have been able to get Gibson and Tavares.

Tavares was a big high school star in Portsmouth, scoring over 1,000 points and playing on several state championship teams. He went to Plymouth State, but never played a game. Several weeks into his fall semester he broke his leg. He missed the entire 2019-20 season, which led him to consider new options.

Burt had heavily recruited Tavares in high school, so he was on his radar. When Tavares decided to make a change, he contacted Burt.

Gibson, meanwhile, had played a year at UMaine-Augusta. They had a coaching change and he decided he wanted some change himself. He contacted Burt about the GBCC program. “I saw that it was a newer school, a newer program,” Gibson said. “I reached out.”

“That whole year allowed me to put some stronger pieces together going into 21-22,” Burt said. 

The Herons in turn took another step forward. They went 13-12 to achieve the program’s first winning season, which also included capturing a playoff win for the first time.

That brings us to last year. GBCC continued to forge forward. Burt added two more key pieces in Wolfe and Breen. Wolfe had played one year at UMaine-Augusta, but Covid and financial woes led to the school suspending its athletic programs in July of 2020. Wolfe eventually found his way to Great Bay.

Breen was a Dover HS star, who left Dover after his junior season for Malden Catholic, a private high school in Massachusetts. He reclassified and spent two years there, “trying to get a better education and better focus.”

Breen had some college plans, but they didn’t work out. “I didn’t have the grades I wanted to, if I’m being honest,” he said.

Breen and Burt had a connection, which made Burt laugh a little. It was 2016, and Burt was preparing for his first of two years playing professionally in Europe. He was working out at the Dover Rec. Breen was a seventh-grader. “I remember that kid would be trying to shoot at the hoop I was working out on and totally getting in my way,” Burt said. 

So when Breen finished up at Malden Catholic and was trying to figure out what to do next, he already had this unusual dynamic with Burt dating back to the Dover Rec when Burt was a young adult and Breen was a child.

Breen visited the campus and liked what he saw. “It was really family-oriented – a good vibe,” he said. “It was a second chance I felt like.” It also didn’t hurt that the team had several Dover players – O’Brien and Jackson Rutland.

With the addition of Breen and Wolfe, Burt saw the potential. “Those two players pushed us over the top,” Burt said. “We had a solid group with that 13-12 year and Alex being our leading scorer. We had some other decent pieces to keep us competitive. It pushed us into a whole other category.”

FINAL FOUR OR BUST

It didn’t immediately take off. The Herons went 5-4 in November, including three straight conference losses, but after that they started to come together. By mid January, Burt said they were all on the same page. “Everybody woke up on the right side of the bed one day,” he said. “We just took off. Something totally clicked.”

At one stretch, they won seven of eight games, including signature victories over Central Maine CC and Southern Maine CC, the defending national champion. They ended the regular season with an 18-7 record, and a so-so 7-7 YSCC record. In the first round of the conference tournament, they played Maine-Augusta at CMCC and pulled out an 86-78 win. They had four players in double figures, led by Tavares with 22 points; Wolfe had 18 and 13 rebounds, while Breen (12) and Gibson (10) also chipped in.

They sent them to the conference semis against Paul Smith College, upset winners over NHTI. They rolled, 96-67, led by Wolfe’s 20 points, 16 apiece from Breen and Tavares, and 12 from Gibson.

In the final, they met SMCC, but the run ended there, 59-47. Only Wolfe (14 points) reached double figures as the Herons shot just 31 percent from the field. “We did not play good offense in that game,” Gibson said. “I don’t think we expected the physical part of the game when we got to that one.”

“It was a defensive battle,” Burt said. “We held them in the 50s. They held us to 47 and we averaged in the 80s. It was my first conference final and all my guys. The gym was rocking. It was pretty fun.”

Losing, however, was tough. SMCC as the conference winner earned the automatic bid to the USCAA Division II national tournament. Great Bay’s season seemed to be over.

“We’re in the locker room’ we’ve got guys crying thinking their season is over,” Burt said. “We’ve got guys who are graduating unsure if their competitive careers are over.”

The thing is, Burt knew in the back of his mind that there was a chance they could make the national tournament field of 10. It is not a reach for the YSCC to get three or even four teams, so why not Great Bay?

Burt knew on the bus ride back to New Hampshire from CMCC that the selection show would be going on. “Part of me did n’t even want them to pull out their phones,” he said. “We weren’t guaranteed a frickin’ thing. We were a dark horse, a sleeper school.”

Burt was thinking to himself that they’re on their way home and he’d about to have his players pull out their phones and maybe be upset again. Then he said, “Let’s have a little faith here.”

So they pull out their phones, and the teams are picked – 1-2-3, right up to nine, and no Great Bay. “I’m going ‘come on please, this would be horrible,’” said Burt. “Then they shouted us out with an at-large bid. They mentioned our record, some of the guys, and our seed, and said ‘we’ll see you guys in Virginia.’”

The bus blew up. “”Everyone was just absolutely fired up,” Burt said. “Now it wasn’t over. All year long we were the school that was winning some games, but not being talked about. And finally we’re being talked about.”

The players’ responses were predictable. “It was nerve-wracking,” Breen said. “We were like ‘oh man.’ Obviously they’re going through the numbers and it’s no way, no way. It’s the last one. We finally got in.”

“We’re on our phones just watching the teams get picked,” recalled Gibson. “We’re sitting there for the 10th pick with our fingers crossed, hoping we get picked. Then it happened. It was crazy.”

Ethan Arnold was sleeping in the bus when GBCC got picked. “I got woken up by the guys on the bus,” he said. “That was a pleasant wake-up surprise.”

As the 10th and final seed in the tournament, there wasn’t a lot of expectation. However, the Herons felt good about themselves. SMCC and NHTI were also in the tournament, and they knew they could play with those teams.

“As a whole group, we believed that’s where we’re supposed to be,” coach Burt said. “It wasn’t the luck of the draw. We’re there.”

The 2022-23 Great Bay CC squad advanced to the USCAA Division II Final Four. This year they have been picked third in the preseason poll. [Courtesy photo]

The Herons made a statement. In their first game vs. seventh-seeded Villa Maria, they fell behind four points at the half. But sparked by Breen, they dominated the second half to win 79-67. Breen led the way with 27 points and eight rebounds, while Gibson added 22 points, five rebounds and five assists. Wolfe had 16 points and 13 boards, while Tavares added five points and 10 rebounds.

In the second round vs. No. 2 Penn State Mont Alto, GBCC jumped out to a 45-30 lead at the break en route to a convincing 75-58 win. Breen again led the way with 20 points and five boards. Tavares (12 points, 16 rebs.) and Wolfe (12 pts., 11 rebs) had solid supporting games, while Desrosier and Gibson combined for 17 points.

Now they were off to the final four against Miami Hamilton. The run ended. Great Bay trailed by six at the half, 32-26, and twice tied the game in the second half, but could not pull ahead. Their season ended with a 69-61 loss.

Breen had another big game with 22 points, while Gibson added 11 and Wolfe had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Breen was named to the all-tournament team. “It was a turning point for me personally,” Breen said. “I just saw a chance to play against some great competition and really try to dial in. I thought it was great.”

STAYING ON TOP

Once an afterthought in the YSCC, Great Bay will begin this season as a team to beat. It’s a new look. “We’ve always felt like we’ve had to do more to get seen by somebody throughout the league,” said Burt. “This year is going to be a totally new experience for me, a totally new experience for all our guys. We’re going into this year, we’ve kind of got a target on us.”

Nine players return and seven new players join the roster. Burt is excited about the possibilities. “We’ve got a lot in the preseason to do,” he said. “We have things to adjust, things to fix to get us stronger and sharper. We’re making those progressions that we can.”

Breen, Gibson and Wolfe will be at the forefront of what the Herons do. Breen knows this season will help open the door for his final two college years. “I definitely feel like the Division II, Division I conversation isn’t out the door with the talks I’ve been able to have,” he said. 

The Great Bay CC men’s hoop team set a school record by winning 22 games last year and advancing to the USCAA D-II Final Four. [Mike Whaley photo]

Breen talked about some of his teammates, noting that Wolfe “definitely has that old-school feel. The haircut helps,” he added with a laugh, referring to Wolfe’s afro that is reminiscent of NBA Hall of Famer Wes Unseld. “He’s a great guy to play with. You get him the ball in the offense we play and he knows how to make plays. He draws a huge amount of attention on offense and defense.”

As for Gibson, Breen said, “him a the two (guard) that’s a 1-2 punch in the backcourt. He’s just a pure scorer.” Gibson has also hit the weight room to add some muscle to his frame

Arnold is another player who hopes to step up his role, filling the shoes, as he sees it, of Tavares. “I’m definitely going to play more of a leadership role,” Arnold said. “I’ll be one of the key defenders with Alex Tavares going to UNH. He’d guard the best player on the other team. I’m looking forward to getting into that role. I’m looking to be more of a lethal scorer.”

The seven new players include four freshmen: Joe Gutwein (ConVal), Stephen Gitau (Dover), Jordan Berko (Farmington) and Jared Biaya (Portland, Maine). Gutwein (6-1) and Gitau (6-2) are guards, while Berko is a 6-foot-6 forward and Biaya is 6-8. The rest of the newbies include 6-4 Mpore Semuhoza (a CMCC transfer), 6-4 Sean Murphy of Exeter (back after missing last year) and 5-5 guard Antoine Bailey from New Orleans. “I’m super excited about our new group,” Burt said.

Gutwein was an all-state guard at ConVal, and he is hoping he can help the team out anyway possible. “The guys are great,” he said. “Our chemistry is strong . This is a group that wants to be in the gym everyday. Kingsley, Theo, and Bryce, that’s our big three right there. They’re so dominant defensively and offensively. And that goes for everyone on our team as well. We are loaded with talent.”

Breen likes what he’s seen with Gutwein in the early going. “You can tell he can really play the game,” Breen said. “He’s smart, he fills the lanes. He’s just always in the right spot.” Gutwein has some personal physical adversity he must deal with every day – he was born profoundly deaf in both ears, accessing sound with a cochlear implant. “Honestly, in a noisy gym, it is difficult to hear,” he said. “My teammates and coaches use hand signals to communicate plays. I’m also super visual and always checking.”

The Herons open the season Saturday at home with a non-conference game against Quinsigamond Community College.

“Ultimately I took the job to build something special and create something special for these guys to take with them to whatever their chapter may be,” Burt said. “Now we’ve got to stay there.”

Jen Robinson Watson: Former Coe-Brown star finds masters niche in England

By Mike Whaley

No one is as astonished as Jen Robinson Watson to be playing competitive basketball at age 45. But here she is.

Once a New Hampshire schoolgirl star at Coe-Brown Northwood Academy from 1992 to 1996, the 6-foot-3 Deerfield native played college ball at New Hampshire College (now Southern New Hampshire University) before embarking on a career and a life that has kept basketball close at hand.

She currently lives in northern England in Yorkshire with her husband, James, and two children, Elizabeth and Harry. James and her run the family canal boat tourism business, Skipton Boat Trips.

Watson recently tried out for and made Great Britain’s top-flight masters women’s basketball team – the O40’s GB Maxiballers. Last month she was chosen as team captain as the team prepares for the world championships next month in Mar Del Plata, Argentina.

“Trust me, no one is more surprised than I am,” Watson said during a recent phone interview. “I’m just trying to stretch it out as long as I can. I’m hoping I’ve got another five years. I don’t envision playing on the (over) 50 team, but we’ll see how it goes. I feel really grateful for everything I have so far. It’s alright if it finishes. I feel like I’ve had a great career.”

Which is true.

Watson grew up in Deerfield, a small N.H. town that is a 30- to 40-minute drive to many destinations in the southern half of the state. Presented with multiple choices for high school at Concord HS, Manchester Central, Manchester Memorial, Oyster River and Coe-Brown, Watson dug her heels in against Coe-Brown, where her three older sisters had gone. “I didn’t particularly want to go there,” she said. “It was kind of my last choice because it was probably my best choice for me as a teenager. I rebelled against it and definitely wanted to go to Oyster River.”

Then Coe-Brown girls hoop coach Tom Hall started planting the seed of coming to and playing at the Northwood school. “I thought he was a great coach and we got along well,” Watson said. “I ended up going there and absolutely loved it. It was a great experience.”

There was plenty of success. Coe-Brown lost three games during Watson’s four years, won two Class M state championships, and lost in a third. She scored over 1,000 career points. In 2021, Watson was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.

Watson played in college, but that experience was not the same. She was heavily recruited by the University of Maine, an NCAA Division I program. “Everything was great, and then the night before I was going to sign my scholarship, they called me and said ‘actually our first choice called and decided she wanted to come, so we don’t have room for you anymore. Thank you for everything and best of luck,’” recalled Watson.

At the time, Watson was devastated. She did not have a backup plan, and was suddenly in panic mode. Fortunately, a former UMaine assistant coach, Deb Reardon, had taken the head job at New Hampshire College. She invited Watson to join the team, which she did.

It was a great academic experience. But basketball was difficult. Used to winning at Coe-Brown, there was a lot of losing at NHC. The team won 11 games in her first three years, including an 0-27 mark during Watson’s junior season. “Basically I thought that was the end of my playing career,” she said. “I didn’t want to play any more after my junior year. I was thinking about giving up.”

The school made a coaching change just before Watson’s senior year. The new head coach was Dennis Masi and his assistant was Chris Wood. Ready to give up the game, the two convinced her not to. “I loved them,” she said. “They completely changed my whole attitude towards basketball; made me fall in love with it again.”

Watson had a decent senior year, the team won eight games, and she ended her career three points short of 1,000 points.

Masi talked with Watson after the season, noting she had some unfinished business. He felt she could play at the next level. She briefly considered pro basketball in the U.S., but figured that level was too much. Then she thought about playing in Europe.

Here the story takes an interesting turn. Already planning to vacation in Scotland thanks to a plane ticket purchased by her sister, Watson reached out to a team in Edinburgh. She was invited to their training camp, which she fit in during her vacation. The coach suggested she’d be better off playing in England – better money and more opportunity. There was one problem: it was already July and English teams were allowed just one American on their roster. Still, the coach was able to put Watson, who had returned to N.H., in contact with two teams. The Doncaster Panthers, located in Yorkshire, showed interest and offered her a contract. “I took a chance, got on a plane and came over,” she said.

Watson played one season with them, but was cut after the season. The coach was honest. It came down to Watson not scoring enough points. During that time, she had met her husband. “I left England thinking that was fun. One and done,” she recalled. “I met this great guy. I thought that was that.” Except it wasn’t.

She got a call from a team called Stockport, near Manchester, England. They had heard she had been cut, so they reached out. They couldn’t pay as much, but they were willing to piece together some other jobs coaching and working at area elementary schools to make it work. She played with the Lapwings for three seasons.

“Some of those girls are my current teammates,” Watson said. “I made some great friendships and am still quite close to the club.”

But after three years the Watsons needed a change. Her husband was in the British Army and decided to leave. There wasn’t much money. “We had to grow up and get some real jobs,” she said. “We went back to America.”

Watson stepped back from playing basketball while in the U.S., but she still stayed close to the sport. She coached the women’s team at Bard College, an NCAA Division 3 school in upstate New York, for five years; was the athletic director and  head girls hoop coach at St. Francis High School in Watsonville, California, also for five years; was an assistant principal at a California elementary school for one year, and then spent three years as an assistant commissioner for the California’s high school sports governing body running large-scale athletic events.

In 2018, the Watsons bought the family canal boat business in England, moved overseas and have been there ever since.

Both of Watson’s children are athletic. Elizabeth, 12, is a soccer goalie, while Harry, 10, is a basketball player. Both are big for their age and are projected to be tall like their mom when they get older – Elizabeth (6-4) and Harry (6-9). Mom calls Elizabeth a “tough little cookie,” while she describes Harry as “long and lean and athletic.”

Back in England, competitive basketball was not on her radar. Watson was playing with a local league team, but had not heard about masters basketball. An old teammate contacted her to say there was an ad online looking for women 40 and older to play for a FIMBA masters team to represent Great Britain.

“We both stewed on it for a while and then thought ‘why not?’” Watson said. “‘Let’s go for it.’ We jumped in the car and decided to give it a go. It was brilliant.”

Watson made the team. It started from there with six women. Today, the team has a roster of 21. The team ended up representing Great Britain last summer in the European Championships in Malaga, Spain. “It’s grown from there and there have been more opportunities from that,” Watson said.

Watson was already on a local league team, which is essentially neighboring towns playing each other. She joined the FIMBA club team with friends. Both are social teams. 

This past January, Watson attended a tryout for the top-level over-40 team, the GB Maxiballers. She made the team and started training for the world championships in Argentina, to be held Aug. 25 to Sept. 3. In June, she was picked as the team captain.

Although she is on three teams, the commitment is hardly overwhelming. The Maxiballers require one weekend every other month for a weekend of training. The FIMBA club team is a one weekend a month commitment, and her local league squad plays once a week. The Maxiballers are very competitive, but the other two teams have a fun factor that she enjoys. To illustrate that, her club team recently played in a tournament in Venice, Italy. “It’s very social,” she said. “Equal parts basketball and beer drinking.”

Staying in shape at her age is a challenge. “Being older and a big inside player, I have to work harder at things like fitness and endurance,” Watson said. “I do work out a lot on my own. I have a trainer I work with to get me ready.”

Watson had had no traumatic injuries, but there has been wear and tear on her knees. “They feel like they’re 85,” she said. “That’s a challenge. When you’re playing masters, you’re playing against other people your age. Everyone’s got little bumps and bruises.”

She laughs. “When you get to the tournaments on Saturday, everybody looks like LeBron James. When you go home on Sunday you definitely feel your age. … My knees struggle a little bit,” she added. “I’ve learned how to stretch out properly. I have to put in a little more time to get ready before and I have to take care after.”

Watson continues to embrace her New Hampshire roots. She still wears her reversible Coe-Brown warmup top when she practices. In fact, she left it behind after a recent Maxiballers training session. “I thought I had lost it,” she said. “I got pretty emotional, and then it turned up with a guy at the front desk.”

After her playing days, Watson sees herself getting into coaching. “It kind of naturally happens anyway,” she said. “I boss people around and people tend to listen.”

Player/coach anyone?

Ball 603’s Whaley publishes book

Longtime NH sportswriter and Ball 603 contributor Mike Whaley has released a book – “A Pen For All Seasons: Dispatches From a Rural New England Life in Sports.” It contains 65 of Whaley’s favorite stories and columns with photos from 35 years in the newspaper business.

PURCHASE YOUR COPY NOW!

Rochester and Farmington figure most prominently in the book, which includes stories Whaley has written since the late 1980s from the Rochester Courier, Rochester Times, Foster’s Daily Democrat and Portsmouth Herald.

There’s plenty on basketball. Here’s a list: Spaulding boys and girls basketball, including long-time former SHS coach Tim Cronin; Holy Rosary HS of Rochester, 1955 Class C boys champs; Nute’s David Burrows; Farmington’s 1970 state championship boys team and the 1967-68 Tiger Tigers, who were undefeated that season in volleyball, basketball and softball; Portsmouth’s Dan Parr and Sox great Carlton Fisk; Newmarket’s Ron Weitzell and Bert McGloughlin; UNH coach Gerry Friel; Oyster River girls coach Cathy Coakley; Whaley’s old college hoop teammates and friends, Bill Fitzgerald and John LeMieux, and the Austin-Cate Wildcats, 1971 NH Class S boys champs.

The book will be available (for $22) at the following book events: Collins Sports Center, Rochester, Saturday, May 20, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.; Farmington House of Pizza, Sunday, May 21, 5 to 7 p.m.; Rochester Public Library, Wednesday, June 7, 6 to 7:30 p.m., and Goodwin Library in Farmington, Thursday, June 22, 5 to 6:30 p.m. 

The book may also be purchased at Collins during regular business hours (closed Sundays) starting May 22.

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Whaley was a full-time area sportswriter from 1987 until his semi-retirement in 2019. He still writes occasionally for Foster’s and the Herald, as well as Ball603. A two-time New Hampshire Sportswriter of the Year, Whaley lives in Portland, Maine, with his wife, Jill.

Second-annual The Season magazine set to return

Our 2022-23 coverage of Basketball in the Granite State will be commemorated with our second annual issue of The Season, a full-color, 50+ page magazine that takes an in-depth look at the boys and girls champions from all four divisions and highlights the top hoop stories from around New Hampshire.

Featuring new articles from Mike Whaley, KJ Cardinal & John Doyle, the announcement of our All-Tournament Teams, the NHBCO All-State selections, action photo galleries and so much more, The Season will be a collectible keepsake for any fan of New Hampshire basketball.

Pre-order your copy for just $15. Magazines are expected to ship out in late April. Enjoy the show!

Great Bay CC falls in USCAA semis

By: Mike Whaley

RICHMOND, Va. – A great run for the Great Bay Community College men’s basketball team came to a close Wednesday night in the USCAA national semifinals, 69-61 to Miami-Hamilton.

The No. 10 Herons (22-9) played from behind for most of the game, closing to four (50-46) with 8:10 to play on a jumper by Ethan Arnold (Wakefield). They could draw no closer.

Dover’s Kingsley Breen once again led the way with 22 points and five boards. He hit 6 of 13 three-point shots. Bryce Gibson added 11 points, while Theo Wolfe had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Portsmouth’s Alex Tavares chipped in with nine points and seven boards. GBCC trailed 32-26 at the half.

No. 3 Miami-Hamilton (22-8) will play in Thursday’s national championship game against No. 1 Penn State Wilkes-Barre (24-8), who beat No. 5 Kent State-Tuscarawas in the earlier semi, 77-72.

Great Bay CC advances to USCAA Final Four

By: Mike Whaley

RICHMOND, Va. – The Great Bay Community College men’s basketball team got another big game from Dover’s Kingsley Breen (20 points, 5 rebounds) to advance to the USCAA Final Four on Tuesday with a 75-58 win over Penn State Mont Alto.

The Herons (22-8) led 45-30 at the half, but never let the lead get into single digits in the second half. Seeded 10th in the 10-team national tournament, Great Bay used great balance to beat the No. 2 seed. Portsmouth’s Alex Tavares had a double double with 12 points and 16 rebounds, as did Theo Wolfe (12 points, 11 boards). Also chipping in were Epping’s Dylan Desrosier with nine points and four rebounds, Bryce Gibson with eight points, and Jesus Carpio and Cam O’Brien (Dover) with five points apiece.

The Herons will play Wednesday, 8 p.m., in the semis vs. Tuesday’s late winner between No. 3 Miami Hamilton and No. 6 NHTI.

Great Bay CC advances in national tourney

By: Mike Whaley

RICHMOND, Va. – The Great Bay Community College men’s basketball team overcame a four-point halftime deficit to beat Villa Maria, 79-67, in Monday’s first-round action of the USCAA Division II national tournament.

Dover’s Kingsley Breen scored a game-high 27 points to go along with eight rebounds to pace the Herons (21-8). Bryce Gibson added 22 points, while Theo Wolfe chipped in with 16 points and 13 boards. Portsmouth’s Alex Tavares had five points and 10 rebounds. Breen and Gibson combined to make 8 of 15 three-pointers.

GBCC plays next on Tuesday, 6 p.m., vs. Penn State Mont Alto.

At the USCAA award ceremony, Breen was named USCAA D-II All-American Second Team, while coach Alex Burt was selected as the national coach of the year.

Bishop Guertin rallies late to capture back-to-back state titles

By: KJ Cardinal

DURHAM – Top-seeded Bishop Guertin used a 23-point fourth quarter to erase a 10-point deficit and capture back-to-back NHIAA Division I Girls Basketball State Championships with a 51-45 victory over No. 3 Bedford on Sunday at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

The Cardinals (21-0) started slow as they trailed by seven after one, by nine at the half and by 10 entering the fourth. BG put the clamps on the Bulldogs (19-3) in the final frame as they held Bedford to 2-10 shooting from the field.

Free throw shooting played a big factor as the Bulldogs were just 7-22 (31.8%) from the charity stripe, while Guertin was 19-25 (76.0%), including 13-17 (76.5%) in the fourth quarter alone.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was Brooke Paquette with a game-high 24 points. Meghan Stack added 10 of her own for BG. Bedford was paced by 15 apiece from Kate Allard and Lana McCarthy, who also pulled down 14 rebounds.

For the Cardinals, the title marks the seventh in school history and the second straight.

Check out the full photo gallery by Jill Stevens…

Pelham completes run to D-II state title

By: KJ Cardinal

DURHAM – Fifth-seeded Pelham completed its impressive run to the 2023 NHIAA Division II Boys Basketball State Championship as the Pythons defeated No. 2 Pembroke, 57-54, on Sunday morning at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

It was the first close playoff game Pelham participated in this postseason as the Pythons run to the title included a 31-point win over No. 12 Kingswood (78-47), a 20-point victory against No. 4 Manchester West (77-57) and a 38-point defeat of top-seeded Laconia (69-31).

The final was close throughout, however, as the game featured 10 lead changes and four ties. Halfway through the second quarter, the Pythons were faced with their biggest deficit of the postseason as they trailed Pembroke by eight with 4:44 left in the half. The Pythons chipped away to cut the lead to one at the break, 31-30.

The Spartans took the third quarter, 13-12, and a two-point bulge to the final frame. The Pythons responded over the last eight minutes to complete the comeback.

The victory marks the fourth Pelham title in school history, the second in Division II and the first since 2016.

Pelham (18-4) was led by 20 points from Zach James and 16 from Dom Herrling. The Spartans (18-3) were paced by a game-high 22 points from Mike Strazzeri and 13 from Joe Fitzgerald.

Check out the full photo gallery…