Anybody who coaches, plays, or follows high school sub-varsity sports will tell you that the vital jobs of junior varsity and freshman contingents are to give young athletes important playing time at the high school level, further hone their athletic skills, and enable them to have fun while also hopefully deepening their love for the sport they’re playing.
In the big picture, wins and losses are of secondary importance until athletes reach the varsity level, and the work they do on the junior varsity and freshman levels pushes a great many youngsters toward their goal of playing varsity sports.
So although coach Luial Gilbert’s Londonderry High School freshman boys’ basketball squad didn’t do as much winning as it either hoped or expected to this winter, the young Lancers got plenty of work accomplished during the 2015-16 hoop campaign none the less.
“While the win total didn’t pile up as we had hoped, some players got their first exposure to high school sports and learned the effort and dedication needed to go on. Defensive fundamentals and conditioning improved across the board,” said Gilbert.
The LHS crew displayed its mental and physical toughness by tallying its lone win of the campaign over the Dover High School Green Wave hoopsters by rebounding from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to finish victorious.
The squad’s players included guards Alex Peters, Mason Cooper, Zack Luongo, Zach Malcolm, and Nathan Cripe, forwards Alex Crutcher, James Buttafuoco, Josh Berube, and Alec Warner, and centers Max DesRosiers and Nick Shapleigh.
“Josh Berube led the team in points, Max DesRosiers led the team in rebounds, and Zach Malcolm led the team in steals and assists,” said Gilbert.