Anyone who has watched him coach a game has seen that.

This time of the year, he wants to pass that passion along.

Starting July 19, the Hollis/Brookline High School boys basketball coach will host the Cavaliers Summer Basketball Camp for the third straight year. Soucy, along with members of his coaching staff, current varsity players and alumni, will work with players entering Grades 4 through 9 in the fall.

And this year, there have been a few changes.

For the first time, the camp will be divided into morning and afternoon sessions. Players in Grades 4-6 will go from 8 a.m. to noon, and Grade 7-9 will go in the afternoon from 1 to 6 p.m.

“I think we’ll come close to filling both sessions,” Soucy said. “Last year, we did grades fifth through eight and we ran the camp from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon. The age disparity was too great. The incoming sixth graders and the incoming eighth graders were worlds apart. Plus we thought the time frame was too long for some kids.”

While the camp is open to anyone in the area, Soucy expects to get mostly kids from the Hollis and Brookline communities.

“Right now, it’s mostly Brookline kids,” he said. “We’re trying to get more Hollis kids to come right now. The intent of the camp is to develop the passion for the game. We’ll teach them some skills, we’ll do a lot of fun games, we give out prizes. Everybody gets a T-shirt.”

In the past, Soucy has also been able to give away the basketballs used in the camp to anyone who wanted one. But after having some left over a year ago, no new ones were orders, so that might be limited to just the younger campers.

That’s just one more thing he’s learned since starting the camp.

“I think we had 63 kids at that (first) camp and I told my coaching staff afterward ‘we reached our limit,’ ” he said. “We do everything inside, we don’t have any outdoor facilities (at the school). We have the large gym and the small gym, and really 60 kids is about the limit of the camp in order for the kids to benefit.”

With two sessions this year, there will be two groups of up to 60 kids each. Players will not only be working with Soucy and his assistant coaches, they’ll also get instruction from high school players who are either on, or will be on, the varsity team, along with former high school players.

And that’s where the learning experience Soucy enjoys really gets interesting.

“Not only do they (high school players) teach, but once we have groups we split them up into teams,” he said. “They have to work with their teams. We have team practices and each (player) is a head coach, or an assistant coach, to a team. They’ve got to strategize and they’ve got to coach the game.

“I think it gives them a very different perspective because they’ll come up to me every once in awhile and say ‘coach they aren’t listening.’ We’ll make them officiate some games. That’s eye-opening, too. It’s not an easy job. It’s a great experience for them.”

And if everything goes right, it ends up being a great experience for the kids.

“The reality is we want this to be a learning experience for all these younger kids,” Soucy said. “We want this to become a passion for the game of basketball that I have, and my other coaches have, and that my players have. That’s how we build that program and sustain success.”

For more information, go here Cavaliers BBall Camp 2010. To register, Camp Application 2010 go here or call 566-8535.

Technorati Tags: basketball, Brookline, Hollis, summer camp

Milford found its way back to the top of Class I for the first time in 35 years, winning the third boys basketball championship in school history in 2010.

The Spartans finished the season with a 21-1 record, with the lone loss coming against Portsmouth during the regular season. Milford avenged that loss with a semifinal win over the Clippers, which was preceded by playoffs wins over Merrimack Valley and John Stark. The Spartans defeated Pembroke in the championship game.

Souhegan returned to the playoffs for the second straight year, after missing out on the postseason in the previous two. The Sabers opened the year by winning eight of their first 11 games, but lost six of the last eight, including in the first round of the playoffs to Portsmouth.

Hollis/Brookline struggled through the first half of the season, at one point losing five games in a row. But the Cavaliers bounced back to win five of their six games to get into the playoffs. H/B dropped its first-round playoff game to Oyster River.

Class L

In a year that was considered as wide-open as any in Class L, the top two seeds wound up playing for the title, with second-seeded Pinkerton besting No. 1 Winnacunnet.

Bishop Guertin earned the fifth seed and advanced to the semifinals with wins over No. 12 Alvirne (66-54) and No. 13 Londonderry. The Cardinals fell in the semifinals to Winnacunnet.

Londonderry reached the second round by upsetting No. 4 Merrimack, 53-47. The teams had played less than a week earlier in the final game of the regular season, with the Tomahawks winning.

Nashua North earned the 11th seed in the playoffs, and hung with No. 6 Dover before the Green Wave pulled away late, 66-58.

Nashua South struggled to a 3-15 record in Class L and missed the postseason.

Class S

Wilton-Lyndeborough had a rough start to the season, thanks to some illness, injury and suspensions in December. The Warriors bounced back to go 13-5 and clinch the seventh seed in the Class S tournament.

For the second straight year, the Warriors hosted Lisbon in the first round, and defeated the Panthers, 66-57. WLC fell in the quarterfinals to No. 2 Newmarket, 52-40, in a game that was postponed two days and was eventually played at Sanborn.

No. 3 Groveton won the Class S title, defeating No. 8 Littleton, 52-49, in the championship game. Littleton defeated top-seed Colebrook in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Derryfield in the semifinals.

Technorati Tags: boys basketball, Class I, Class L, Class S, playoffs

The 2009-10 high school season was an interesting one. Two local girls basketball programs made some history, while another went through a mid-season change, but continued its success.

Class L

While Winnacunnet was making history of its own – the Warriors haven’t lost a game in their last 53 – and won its fourth straight title. The Warriors joined Manchester Central (1978-81) and Nashua (1985-89) as the only programs to win four straight Class L girls titles. In Class S, both Henniker (1981-84) and Groveton (1990-93, 1999-2003) are the only other girls programs to win more than four in a row.

Nashua North was the top local team, finishing with an 11-7 record and the No. 6 seed in the tournament. The Titans won the first girls basketball playoff game in school history, beating No. 11 Alvirne (8-10) 59-31. North eventually lost to No. 3 Londonderry in the quarterfinals 54-33.

Bishop Guertin was a game behind the Titans, going 10-8 and getting the No. 8 seed. The Cardinals hosted a first-round game and beat No. 9 Exeter, 58-51. BG fell to Winnacunnet in the quarterfinals, 66-32.

No. 14 Merrimack (8-10) played a tough game in the opening round against Londonderry, but eventually lost 63-45.

Nashua South finished the year with a 4-14 record and missed the postseason.

Class I

It’s been an interesting year in all Class I sports, thanks to the NHIAA’s decision to test out the Heal Points System in that class.

Souhegan had one of the longest winning streaks this season, at one point taking 15 straight games. The Sabers did that despite going through a coaching change in mid-January. Souhegan earned the No. 3 seed in the playoffs with a 16-2 record and opened with a 66-53 win over No. 14 Bedford. The Sabers fell in the quarterfinals, losing to No. 6 Kennett, 50-48. The Eagles went on to win the Class I title, upsetting No. 1 and undefeated Lebanon.

Hollis/Brookline turned in one of the best seasons in program history, going 15-3 and earning the No. 4 seed in the tournament. The Cavaliers defeated Souhegan for the first time in the regular season, and cruised to a first-round playoff win against No. 13 Merrimack Valley, 61-34, H/B’s first since moving up to Class I. The Cavs lost to No. 5 St. Thomas in the quarterfinals, losing 55-48.

For most of the season, Milford looked like it was going to miss the playoffs. But thanks to a late-season surge, the Spartans snuck in as the 16th seed. Milford fell on the road to Lebanon in the first round, 69-42.

Kennett won its first title since 1989 by pulling out three upsets. The Eagles defeated No. 2 Portsmouth by one point in the semifinals and knocked off Lebanon by seven.

Class S

Wilton-Lyndeborough finished the regular season with a 9-9 record and earned the No. 10 seed in Class S. The Warriors went on the road to face No. 7 Newmarket, and lost 40-27 to finish out the season.

No. 1 Groveton won its second straight title, defeating No. 3 Derryfield 56-25 in the championship game.

Technorati Tags: Class I, Class L, Class S, girls basketball, playoffs

The Bishop Guertin High School girls hockey team made some history in 2010 by advancing to the championship game for the first time.

The Cardinals had their best season in the three years since the NHIAA made girls hockey a sanctioned sport. BG complied a record of 11-3-2 during the regular season, and picked up its first playoff win by beating Oyster River in the semifinals. The Cardinals eventually lost to Hanover, 2-0, in the final.

Boys Hockey

Division I

The Bishop Guertin boys once again claimed the No. 1 seed in the division by going 12-2-2 during the regular season. After getting a first-round bye, the Cardinals opened the playoffs with a 4-3 win over eight-seed Manchester Central in the quarterfinals.

But for the second straight year, the semifinals were as far as BG would go. The Cardinals were knocked off by No. 4 Concord, 5-3. The Crimson Tide would go on to defeat No. 3 Exeter, 1-0, for the Division I title.

Nashua North made a return to the playoffs after going 6-9-1 and earning the No. 9  seed. The Titans fell to Central in the preliminary round, 7-4.

Nashua South struggled through a tough season and failed to make the playoffs.

Division II

Merrimack got of to a great start this season, winning its first eight division games. But the Tomahawks came back to the pack in the second half of the regular season, winning just three of their final 10 regular season games. Merrimack finished with an 11-7 record, including two wins over Timberlane. But the fifth-seeded Hawks lost to the fourth-seeded Owls in the quarterfinals, 4-2.

Alvirne had a tough season and failed to make the playoffs.

Top-seeded Bow won the Division II title, beating No. 2 Oyster River, 2-1 in overtime.

Division III

Souhegan came up short in its quest for a fifth-straight Division III championship game appearance. The Sabers went 12-6 during the regular season and surprised some by reaching the semifinals for the sixth consecutive year. But head coach Ed Viola fully expected his team to advance that far and was proud to see what it accomplished. Souhegan defeated John Stark, 3-1, in the quarterfinals before falling to Kennett, 9-0.

Hollis/Brookline went 9-8-1 during the regular season and earned the seventh seed in the division. The Cavaliers lost to No. 2 Bedford in the quarterfinals, 4-1.

Kennett won its second straight Division III title, beating Bedford 2-1 in the championship game.

The Bishop Guertin girls indoor track team is no stranger to Class L success. The Cardinals won their eighth-straight indoor title this year, besting second-place Manchester Central by 12 points.

But the BG boys? Well, they got in on the act this year, too, winning their first Class L indoor title. The Cardinals edged Merrimack by two points to take their first crown.

Michael Peret was a one-man show for the Souhegan boys, as he had a hand in four first-place finishes and helped the Sabers tie Lebanon for the Class IMS title.

The Milford girls looked like they were going to make it two straight Class IMS titles, but came up a second short in the final relay to place second behind Lebanon.

Wrestling

Milford’s Josh Kilgore was the lone champion on the division level, winning 189-pounds at the Division II meet. Teammate Joe Albina (160) and Hollis/Brookline Bryan Jennings (215) also made the finals of their respective weight classes.

In Division I, only two wrestlers, Merrimack Tyler Baulier (215) and Bishop Guertin’s Corey Christie (152), reached the finals. Baulier went on to win his weight class at the Meet of Champions.

Swimming

The Bishop Guertin boys team took home its second-straight Division I title, while Nashua North was second for the second straight year. The Titans girls team also came in second.

For the third-straight season, the Souhegan girls team finished second, while the Souhegan boys took home third at the Division II meet.

Technorati Tags: swimming, track, wrestling

BG's Kayla Lambert, left, and Meghan Turner were named to the Division I girls all-state first team

Four hockey players, two boys and two girls, from Bishop Guertin High School were named to the New Hampshire All-State first team in their respective divisions.

BG’s Meghan Turner and Kayla Lambert were chosen to the Division I girls first team and coach Myia Yates was named Coach of the Year, while Greg Girtatos and Austin Carto were selected for the Division I boys first team.

Souhegan’s Ben Rafferty was also honored with Division III first-team status and Ed Viola was named the Division III Coach of the Year.

In all, 12 local players were honored with All-State status.

Bishop Guertin

• Greg Girtatos, senior, forward, Division I boys first team.
• Austin Carto, senior, defenseman, Division I boys first team.
• Josh Dobbins, senior, goalie, Division I boys second team.
• TJ Bond, senior, forward, Division I boys honorable mention.
• Meghan Turner, sophomore, forward, Division I girls first team.
• Kayla Lambert, junior, defenseman, Division I girls first team.

Merrimack

• Tyler Caron, junior, forward, Division II boys second team.
• Erik Glendye, junior, forward, Division II boys honorable mention.

Nashua North

• David Thorp, junior, goalie, Division I boys honorable mention

Souhegan

• Ben Rafferty, senior, defenseman, Division III boys first team
• Quinn Carroll, sophomore, forward, Division III boys second team.
• Erik Hayden, junior, goalie, Division III boys honorable mention.

Technorati Tags: awards, Bishop Guertin, boys hockey, girls hockey, Merrimack, Nashua North, Souhegan

Hollis/Brookline's Kelly Morgan was named to the Class I girls All-State first team.

In all, 23 local players received recognition in both boys and girls basketball in all four classes. Below are each school’s honorees.

Alvirne

• DJ Purcell, junior, guard, Class L girls honorable mention.
• Katie Donovan, junior, forward, Class L girls honorable mention.
• Caleb Donnelly, junior, guard, Class L boys second team.

Bishop Guertin

• Meghan Green, freshman, forward, Class L girls honorable mention.
• Sean McClung, junior, forward, Class L boys second team.
• Connor Green, junior, forward, Class L boys second team.
• Scott St. Lawrence, senior, forward, Class L boys second team.

Hollis/Brookline

• Kelly Morgan, senior, guard, Class I girls first team.

Merrimack

• Rachael Carter, junior, guard, Class L girls honorable mention.
• Dimitri Floras, freshman, guard, Class L boys second team.

Milford

• Mike O’Loughlin, junior, forward, Class I boys first team.
• Mike Mitchell, junior, guard, Class I boys second team.
• Jamie Holder, junior, guard, Class I boys honorable mention.

Nashua North

• Kyla Gustavson, senior, guard, Class L girls second team.
• Alex Pratt, senior, guard, Class L boys honorable mention.

Nashua South

• Caitlin Ackerman, junior, center, Class L girls honorable mention.
• Jake Nelson, senior, guard, Class L boys honorable mention.

Souhegan

• Jackie Jones, senior, guard, Class I girls second team.
• Jane White, sophomore, guard, Class I girls honorable mention.
• Christan Wojtas, junior, guard, Class I girls honorable mention.

Wilton-Lyndeborough

• Marika Thompson, senior, guard, Class S girls honorable mention.
• Steven Heck, junior, center, Class S boys second team.

Technorati Tags: all state, boys basketball, girls basketball

Mike O'Loughlin scored 23 points in Milford's win over Pembroke in the Class I championship game.

It didn’t matter; the Spartans used that excuse to motivate them instead of letting it bring them down and won, 52-46.

Milford was missing its starting point guard, Mike Mitchell, a player who handles the ball perhaps more than any of the other four players on the court combined. The junior wasn’t able to play because of a school suspension the day before.

Forget the reason for Mitchell’s absence for a moment. If it had been for an injury or illness instead of discipline, it still amounts to the same thing: the Spartans were playing without a key contributor.

Teams that win championships find a way around a problem like that, and that’s exactly what Milford did.

“It definitely motivated us,” Mike O’Loughlin said. “We had to win this for Mikey. He already feels awful about it. People make mistakes and it happens.

“He was sorry, you could tell. If we had lost, it wouldn’t have been his fault.”

Milford coach Dan Murray didn’t want to see something like that fall on one of his players again. A year ago, it was O’Loughlin who missed a pair of free throws in a quarterfinal game against Pembroke that would have given Milford a lead. Instead, the Spartans ended up losing by three.

That stayed with O’Loughlin, and he said as much when commenting on the free throws he made near the end of Milford’s semifinal win over Portsmouth. The Pembroke fans certainly reminded him during the championship game, chanting “just like last year” when he went to the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

“Last year, Mike (O’Loughlin) had those two missed free throws,” Murray said. “We said (Friday), we cannot let Mike (Mitchell) have this on his shoulders all year, that he’s the reason we didn’t win a championship. We dedicated ourselves more than we would have.”

While the players turned that into a positive in their minds, O’Loughlin and Jamie Holder filled the role of ballhandler just fine, despite only having one practice to prepare.

“We had about an hour and a half, and the first hour was a waste, trying to figure out who could play where,” Murray said of that practice. “We had to play people out of positions.

“When we practiced, we had Mike bringing the ball up. It was scary. It was like a bull in a China shop, putting his head down and going this way and that way. We switched Jamie over. When Jamie needed a break, (O’Loughlin) was able to do it.”

Although Holder and O’Loughlin filled in nicely, the Milford crowd certainly didn’t forget the point guard who helped get the team there. During the awards ceremony, the crowd’s loudest cheer came when Mitchell’s name was announced.

“We did it for you, kid,” Murray said when asked what he would tell Mitchell. “He’s been a great leader and he does everything for this team.”

Technorati Tags: boys basketball, championship, Class I, Milford, playoffs

Technorati Tags: boys basketball, championship, Class I, Milford, playoffs, video

Dan Desmarais of Milford holds up the championship plaque as he stands next to Jamie Holder after the Class I title game. For more photos, see the Photo Album.

“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” the Milford junior said. “By far.”

Teammate Mike O’Loughlin had similar thoughts.

“This is the greatest feeling I’ve ever felt,” he said. “We’ve been waiting our whole lives for this. When knew we could do this in eighth grade, when we won the middle school championship.”

Their coach, Dan Murray, knows what they’re feeling – he won a Class L basketball title as a junior at Milford in 1972.

Now Murray has another title – the school’s first since 1975 and third overall – this time as a coach, as the Spartans finished off the season with a 52-46 win over Pembroke at the University of New Hampshire’s Lunhold Gymnasium.

“They’re next to each other,” Murray said when asked to compare winning as a coach to winning as a player. “It’s a great thing for Milford. It’s been a long time.”

Thirty-five years to be exact, and the jubilation was noticeable as it wasn’t only the Milford student section that rushed to the area behind the Spartans’ bench once the game was over. A number of parents, teachers, school administrators and other adults were right there, too, hugging players and shaking Murray’s hand.

But the one person who wasn’t there was probably the most worrisome before the game for the Spartans.

Milford was forced to play without point guard Mike Mitchell, who was ineligible to play after a school suspension.

That meant Murray had to lean on Holder and O’Loughlin even more, not just for their scoring – the duo did combine for 37 points – but also for their floor leadership.

Both responded.

“Those two guys where huge,” Murray said. “When one needed the other one to step up, Mike would take over for a few possessions and Jamie could almost take a little breather. Then when Mike settled down, Jamie would take over for two or three possessions. And then they fed off each other a little bit. All the other players fit right in the mold.”

The Spartans (21-1) needed that early on, as both they and Pembroke (19-3) opened the game shooting poorly. Neither team scored until Holder sank a jumper just under three minutes into the game. He went on to Milford’s first eight points, including two 3-pointers, as the Spartans got out to a 10-2 lead.

Milford's Mike O'Loughlin drives to the basket.

“Being a final, I think both teams were feeling each other out,” Murray said. “We had some missed shots, but they were contested shots. And they were all good shots. Same thing with them, they were getting some decent looks.”

Pembroke responded with a 10-2 run of its own and tied the game at 12 early in the second quarter. From there, it was a series of runs to end the half, with Milford taking a lead of 24-16 before Pembroke closed the gap to 24-22 at halftime.

“We expected that,” Holder said of the up-and-down half. “We did it to Portsmouth, so we knew (Pembroke) could do that.”

Pembroke continued it into the second half, as Milford struggled to make shots. Sheldon Benson scored six straight points for the Spartans in green, while the Spartans in white missed their first six shots from the field.

A 3-pointer by Coleton Neely (game-high 24 points) gave Pembroke its biggest lead, 31-26, with 4:42 left in the third quarter, but O’Loughlin (23 points) answered with a 3 of his own and added a layup to tie the game.

In all, O’Loughlin had nine of Milford’s 14 third-quarter points to help the Spartans retake the lead, 38-36. Milford scored six of the first eight points in the fourth to push the lead to 44-38 with 5:26 to play.

From there, Pembroke’s short bench began to show. The Spartans had a number of shots blocked in the fourth quarter, and made just one field goal – a 3 by Neely that made it 44-41 with 3:13 to play. Pembroke got within three points on two other occasions, but couldn’t get any closer.

“They’re a thin team and we’re deep,” O’Loughlin said. “We can go off our bench with a couple guys. They were getting tired. We weren’t going to turn the ball over. If they were going to win it, they were going to have to win it. We weren’t giving it to them.”

Two free throws by Neely cut it to 48-45 with 19.3 seconds left, and Holder went to the line for a one-and-one with 14 seconds on the clock. When he missed the free throw, O’Loughlin was there to get the rebound and put it back in, making it a two possession game.

“Both (Mike) and Jamie were great leaders for us offensively,” Murray said. “They did a great job of controlling the game.”

The Milford boys basketball team poses with the championship plaque.

Technorati Tags: boys basketball, championships, Class I, Milford, playoffs