PLYMOUTH, NH – Hours after the final buzzer had sounded, the team text message thread remained hyperactive.
Coaches and players, from seniors down to freshmen, each embraced the opportunity to exchange admiration for one another, as well as gratitude for their shared experience.
“But mostly, they expressed sadness that many of them had just played their last game together,” said first-year Holy Family Academy head boys basketball coach Keith LaCasse.
The senior-laden Griffins, competing in the program’s first season on the NHIAA hardwood, had just traveled from Manchester to Plymouth and fell two points short of reaching the state championship game, falling 55-53, in the Division-IV semifinal to Portsmouth Christian.
Holy Family, which finished the regular season with a 10-2 record competing against mostly fellow private schools, led most of the first half of Wednesday’s contest before entering into a back-and-forth second-half duel.
“It was definitely worthy of being a final-four game,” said LaCasse. “It was a hard-fought game that went right to the wire. Both teams came to play, and it really could have gone either way. It just so happened that they had the lead when we ran out of time. Another possession and it could have just as easily been us.”
Though the sudden conclusion to a successful first NHIAA season was undoubtedly difficult, LaCasse said he was grateful for great support from Holy Family Athletics Director Charles Delano, the girls basketball team, which traveled to Plymouth to cheer on their counterparts, and several alumni who helped coach the team.
“Holy Family really isn’t just a name,” said LaCasse. “We truly are a family, and that’s really our strength.”
Now the team must bid farewell to several family members, including first-team all-stater Yann Yonkeu, who scored 14 points against Portsmouth Christian, and now heads to play college ball at Division III Franciscan University.
The team also loses do-it-all captain Thomas Gillis.
“I think Thomas Gillis was kind of a our best kept secret,” said LaCasse. “Every time there was a writeup about the team, it focused on the Yonkeu brothers but never talked about Thomas, and he’s a guy who had a double-double our last few games. He has great vision and somehow would always find the open man that no one else would see and get him the ball. He’s a good mid-range shooter too, and he pulled down double digit rebounds most games. He also had a wicked sense of humor. He’s just a very sharp kid who was definitely one of our key players.”
In addition, those graduating include sharpshooter Paul Lamontagne and Adam Milus, who was a big part of the team’s on- and off-court chemistry, as well as starting guard Henry Morgan.
“Henry is kind of a funny story, because we actually had to convince him to play basketball this season,” said LaCasse. “He didn’t think of himself as much of a basketball player but that was a false perception, I think, because he’s a phenomenal soccer player, so by comparison, I don’t think he realized how good he is, but defensively he was a nightmare for other teams. He was really the guy we’d want to stick on other team’s best players to shut them down. We’re definitely going to miss that.”
Though the team will undoubtedly miss its seniors, it brings back D-IV player of the year Karl Yonkeu, a junior, who dropped 22 points on Portsmouth Christian in the playoffs.
Other underclassmen expected to compete for playing time include Jack Vicinanzo, Sean Sullivan, Joe DePuydt, Paul Williams, Paul Morgan, Patrick Gillis, Peter Tshibal and Nathan Donovan, as well as Yann and Karl’s younger brother, Enzo.
“As soon as the game was over, more several of them were already talking about next season,” said LaCasse. “More than one guy said that next season starts tomorrow.”
“For a lot of people, it seems like Holy Family came out of nowhere, so to make it all the way to the final four in our first season was a really big deal for us,” LaCasse said. “For us, it really was for God’s glory, so even though we lost tonight, as soon as it was over, we dropped to our knees and thanked God for the season we had.”
