Thetford
Now in his first year as Thetford’s head varsity coach, Gray is hoping to return the program to similar prominence.
Relatively quiet off the court, Gray appears as dynamic executing his coaching methods as he was as a player. Under Gray’s vocal motivation, the Panthers spend practice in constant movement, emphasizing passing and defensive drills to suit their strengths.
At Thetford and later at Lyndon State College — where he also scored more than 1,300 points — Gray was the focal point of front-court-oriented offenses. This year’s Panthers are limited in size, with only sophomore Owen Deffner standing 6 feet or taller. Speed and shooting will be paramount.
“When I played here, it was always defense first, and that’s the way I coach,” said Gray, who spent the last three seasons coaching many of the same athletes on Thetford’s junior varsity program. “(Coaches) like Dave McGinn and Barrett Williams didn’t care about the No. 1 seed or winning the regular season. We want to be ready to go when the playoffs start.”
Results have been mixed so far for Thetford (1-2), its losses coming by a combined six points. In the season opener at Green Mountain, the Panthers led by 12 after the first quarter, before suffering turnover woes and allowing 21 third-quarter Chieftain points in an eventual 57-54 loss.
Thetford responded with a 30-point win at rival Rivendell, behind 16 points each from juniors Dylan Thorburn and Nick Moses, a career high for the later.
Turnovers and one poor defensive quarter were again issues Thursday at Capital League foe Montpelier. The Panthers led, 21-18, at the break, but the Solons rallied for 19 points in the fourth quarter to tie the game and prevailed in overtime, 45-42.
“That’s been the biggest issue over the last couple years,” said Gray, who was often called upon to assist with the varsity program while leading the jayvees. “We’d have the lead and the opportunity to (win), and then it just seems like we give up. We have to learn that we can’t (only) play three out of four quarters.”
The turnovers may be a byproduct of something the Panthers have been doing well: distributing the ball to help set up contributions from numerous players. Three are averaging double figures — Thorburn (13.0), Moses (10.3) and Lawson Ouellette (10.0) — and Connor Brown (7.3) and Noah Perry (7.0) both scored 10 in the opener.
“For us, it’s not a situation where we have one great player player and try to go through him. We have 13 guys who can play basketball,” said Gray. “That’s why it’s so important that we pass the ball.”
Panther players seem to enjoy Gray’s coaching, many glad to be working with him again after first becoming familiar with him on JV.
“He makes you work hard and fix things that you mess up, which I think the whole team appreciates,” said Brown. “We’re a small team, so we know about the importance of things like passing the ball and boxing out for rebounds. I think Jason is helping us play to our capabilities. We were all excited to get the first win for him (at Rivendell).”
McGinn — Thetford’s AD throughout Gray’s student tenure and the Panthers’ coach when he was a senior — is excited to follow their progress under Gray.
“There’s no question that he can be a great coach,” said McGinn, now St. Johnsbury Academy’s AD. “Jason’s one of those kids who has a great passion for the game and has always had a tremendous work ethic to go with it. When you get him away from basketball he’s actually kind of a quiet guy, but he’s more than comfortable sharing his knowledge on the court. You certainly saw that with him among his peer group when he was a player.”
The Panthers’ speedy style differs from Gray’s own playing dominance at the low post, though he proved to be versatile when needed. In a narrow semifinal loss to eventual champion Hazen during Gray’s senior year, McGinn had him carry the ball up the court as way to combat the Wildcats’ aggressive defense.
He’ll need similar flexibility as a coach as rosters flucuate with little control over lineups.
“It’s one of the challenging things about coaching high school, but also one of the great things,” said McGinn. “In college, for example, you can recruit players you want because they’re a good fit for the system you want to play with. At the high school level, you’ve got one class that graduates and another one coming up. You don’t get to pick. But I think Jason will do a great job with the players that he gets.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.