New Coach, New Players
For Whitcomb Boys
By Laurie-Jean B. Gauthier

Former Royal and South Royalton High School graduate Jamie Kinnarny will step in and replace Jeff Mills as the boys’ varsity basketball coach at Whitcomb High School this year. Mills is now the assistant girls’ basketball coach at Rochester High School.

Kinnarney inherits a very small and limited experienced group from Mills, in fact, there will only be a varsity team this year as there are only nine boys on the team. With the graduation of Jeff Washburn, Mike Wood, Teddy Mills, Ryan Barrows, Tim Aldrighetti and Ryan Adams only three players remain from last year’s team as the core group of players.

Returning members from last year’s squad are junior Dean Hill, and seniors Scott Killian and Cody Griffin. Up from junior varsity are seniors Nathan Tipton and Justin Rogler and junior Matthew Durfee. (Durfee won’t suit up until January after he returns from a semester away at the Verhsire Mountain School.) Senior Brian Ward rejoins the team, and senior Mike Ennis and freshman Danny Pray join the team.

Kinnarney will be limited by mere size and the fact that the players are young in terms of playing time at the varsity level. He needs to keep the team focused and physically healthy and they need to be academically sound in order to keep the team playing. It will more than likely be a year of ups and downs for this first year coach but hopefully a rewarding experience for him also. The Hornets begin the season tomorrow night in Bethel in the Annual Stub Stearns Bean Pot Classic. Game time is 7 p.m.

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