West Canaan
The gymnasium floor upon which he impacted so much valuable instruction and so created many memories was lifted last year as part of a school renovation project, but Kehoe’s legacy continues in the Royals’ refurbished facility.
The gym originally took on his name only months after he died of brain cancer at age 50, and it was re-christened Edward P. Kehoe Gymnasium during a ceremony on Tuesday between games of the Royals’ basketball doubleheader against Kearsarge. The new floor features his name on either side of center court.
Kehoe’s mother, Grace, wife, Kelli, and her four children — Kelsey, Paige, Riley and Parker — were on hand to hear tributes and receive gifts from Mascoma administrators.
Superintendent Patrick Andrew and athletic director John Kelly spoke about Kehoe before presenting his family with pieces of the old floor — scruff marks remaining from the countless games he led on its planks — as well as wooden pens manufactured using pieces from the same surface.
The gesture touched Grace Kehoe, who accepted on behalf of herself and her husband, Ed Sr., who stayed at their White River Junction home recovering from recent surgery.
“There was a hole in my heart until tonight,” a teary-eyed Grace Kehoe said. “I feel as though I haven’t lost him completely now. He loved Mascoma. This was the greatest place to him.”
Ed Kehoe coached the Royals’ girls team from 1993-2008, reaching the NHIAA Class M final seven times and winning three titles. His teams reached the final four for six consecutive years during one stretch.
Doubling as a cross country coach, Kehoe was known for his physically tough practices.
“There was lots of running and lots of yelling,” said Kelsey Kehoe, who played for her dad at Hartford High during the 2012-13 season. “But he always made it fun.”
Former Mascoma athletic director Tom Frederick, who later hired Kehoe to coach the girls program at Sunapee High after Frederick became AD there, took in Tuesday night’s ceremony from a corner of the gym.
“Ed was a softie at heart,” Frederick said. “People would say he was tough, but it was all about making his players mentally tough for games. The practices were a lot tougher than games. I never once saw him yell at a player during a game.”
When it came to schmoozing with colleagues, Kehoe was simply a blast.
“He was a nonstop bundle of energy,” said Kelly, a former Lebanon High teacher who often golfed with Ed, Ed’s brother Tim and former Lebanon High Athletic Director Al Dobson. “He had the most outrageous sense of humor you ever experienced. Nobody worked harder, and nobody played harder. He had that spark, that enthusiasm for life that we really miss here at Mascoma.”
The Cougars (5-2 NHIAA Division III, 7-3 overall) broke open a tight game in the second half, withstanding a season-high 31-point night from Royals senior Alex Schwarz.
Six-foot-7 Kearsarge junior Taylor Mattos scored 17 of his team-high 27 points in the final two quarters as the Cougars wore down Mascoma’s pressing style with fast-break layups and steals. Tom Johnson finished with 14 and Joe Storozuk and Noah Tremblay added seven apiece for Kearsarge, which opened the season with 10 straight road games.
The Cougars led 28-23 at halftime before opening the third quarter on a 7-2 run for their first double digit lead.
Mascoma (1-4; 1-7) lost its seventh straight.
“One thing about (the Royals) is they’re always going to play hard and make you withstand their pressure,” said Kearsarge coach Nate Camp, the former Lebanon High and Colby-Sawyer College guard. “They did a great job of that early, and we also had to deal with Alex Schwarz, a first-team all-leaguer. Once we got some stops defensively, we were able to get some runouts going the other way and extend (the lead) a little bit.”
Schwarz hit a fadeaway jumper and a pair of layups to pull Mascoma within 42-36 with 5:10 remaining, but Mattos scored eight in the final minutes and Storozuk had a fast-break layup to help clinch it.
The Cougars outscored the Royals 16-5 in the fourth quarter to overcome a five-point deficit in a game featuring seven ties and six lead changes.
Katie Ferland’s basket early in the fourth gave Mascoma the largest lead of the night by either team to that point, 31-25, but Kearsarge scored the next 10 to build a five-point cushion with 4:24 to play.
Mascoma (2-6) only hit one more field goal and shot 1-for-4 from the free throw line in the final period.
“We played them tough but unfortunately didn’t hit enough shots,” said second-year Mascoma coach John Billings, whose team fared much better than during a 51-21 loss at Kearsarge last month. “We’re still learning how to win, but we’re doing a lot of things better. You have to like our progress.”
Freshman Madisyn Brayshaw scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half and sophomore Megan Roy finished with 11 for Kearsarge (8-2 overall), which stayed a perfect 8-0 in league play.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.
Correction
Al Dobson is a former athletic director at Lebanon High School. An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Dobson’s position.