Two Upper Valley high schools are looking for a new head girls basketball coach.
Lebanon High’s Emily Kehoe stepped down after one season at the helm, and Mascoma Valley Regional High’s Walter Hammond left the program after four years.
Kehoe led the Raiders to a 9-4 record last winter, including one playoff win before falling to Hanover in the NHIAA Division II quarterfinals, during a pandemic-altered 2021 season. She took the position in June 2020 after her father, Tim, stepped down from the same role after 29 years.
Emily Kehoe said in a Saturday text to the Valley News that she knows the commitment required to coach because of her father. She’s focusing on her family life, as she’s getting married in June.
“I truly had a great year and don’t regret coaching at all,” the younger Kehoe said.
“That being said, when I coach, I want to give everything I have to it. And where I’m at in life, I don’t feel like I can do that. One day, if I continue coaching, I will want to be able to say that I’m in it 100%. Right now, I’m more focused on trying to start my family, and be fully committed to that.”
Kehoe played for her father at Lebanon from 2009-13. Those Raider teams made three NHIAA Division II state championship game appearances, winning a title in her senior year. She averaged 16.2 points per game as a senior, which propelled her to the collegiate level at Maine’s St. Joseph’s College.
At St. Joseph’s, Kehoe won three conference championships while starting 40 of her 102 career games. She totaled nearly 500 career points.
She worked as a health teacher at Lebanon while she coached.
Mascoma, an NHIAA Division III program, finished 1-14 last season with a young roster forced into regional schedule against the likes of D-II powers Hanover and Lebanon because of the pandemic. Hammond recorded a 23-51 record as the Royals’ head coach over his four seasons.
Hammond and his wife, Jenn, have worked together with several Mascoma programs in recent years. Walt kept the scorebook for Jenn with the Royals’ field hockey program, while Jenn served as the Royals’ junior varsity basketball coach last winter as Walt guided the varsity.
Seth Tow can be reached at stow@vnews.com.
Correction
Lebanon Middle School is currently seeking a new health teacher. An earlier version of this story misidentified the school with the vacancy.