Sunapee
Puchtler, in his first few weeks as head coach of the Lakers, wanted to set a tone as his team filed prematurely out of Sherburne Gym. The Lakers are largely young and inexperienced, a mix of all-around athletes with limited basketball-specific skills and raw talent remaining following the departures of standouts Matt Tenney and Isaiah Chappell.
What’s certain is that the team is entering a new era with a new coach and a squad that lacks the explosiveness of years past.
That isn’t stopping the new coach from employing his hard-nosed style. But Puchtler’s first season with the program feels a lot like a team starting from scratch.
“You saw (what kind of coach I am),” he said after practice. “I’m a no-nonsense type of guy. I believe in giving 100 percent effort, paying attention to the details. I’m pretty black and white. There’s no gray with me.”
Sunapee was 18-5 overall last season, led by 425 total points from point guard Tenney and a combined 405 points from Mike Platt and Ben Robinson. Chappell, who played only 15 games for the Lakers last season after returning from private school in Massachusetts, provided 302 total points and helped Sunapee find an extra gear down the stretch. The Lakers fell to Groveton in the second round of the NHIAA Division IV tournament.
Then came the exodus. Ed Tenney, after serving six years as head coach of the Lakers, retired at the end of last season. Matt Tenney, Chappell, Platt and Robinson — responsible for a combined 1,132 of Sunapee’s 1,487 total points last season — all graduated. This year’s Lakers are anything but recognizable, presenting Puchlter with a unique, multi-year challenge.
“It’s certainly a rebuilding year,” he said. “I’ve told that to everyone who’s asked about the program. Even after this year, with Austin (LaBlanc) and Hank Vincent and Isaiah Gorman all leaving … you’re trying to rebuild the team and then you have three seniors leaving. You go from being young and inexperienced this year to being even younger next year. But we’ve got a good freshman class coming up that seems promising.”
LaBlanc, who scored 137 points off the bench for Sunapee last season, provides the most varsity experience for a team largely made up of underclassmen. He will play a highlighted role for the Lakers’ offense this season, as will Vincent and Gorman.
“Every year, you’re looking to see what your personnel is and make the adjustments from there,” Puchtler said. “This is one of those years where, I’ve said from the beginning, this team is going to struggle offensively. It just doesn’t have the shooters and the kids that are basketball players. We have a bunch of athletes, a lot of three-sport athletes. The last few years we’ve had kids that are really focused on basketball.
“The basketball IQ is not quite as high as it has been in the past. We’re just trying to make adjustments and simplify the game.”
What Puchtler does have going for him is name recognition. He served as Sunapee’s junior varsity coach for three years and was assistant varsity coach under Tenney for several seasons more. He also worked with Tenney during his tenure at Kearsarge.
“When Ed retired, I thought I was going to finish up, too,” Puchtler said. “A lot of kids wanted me to come back and do it this year. A lot of the parents were asking me to come back this year. With a handful of returning players, you hope just coming back and working with them is continued progress in the direction they were going. It’s a face they know. It’s a personality they know. It’s not somebody new coming in trying to change everything.”
Sunapee opens its season Friday at home against Lisbon. With so much turnover, it’s hard to know what the team will look like or what kind of success the Lakers will be able to muster.
But Puchtler is keeping his expectations grounded, focusing his attention on the development of his younger players.
“Everybody wants to win every game,” he said. “That’s not my goal at this point. My goal is to develop through the course of the year and build for the coming years. It is a building year. I just want these kids to improve every day.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.