RUHS Standout James Ingalls
Wins Championship as Coach

RUHS graduate James Ingalls, now head coach at Lake Region High School in Barton, watches intently as his team marches toward the Division 3 state championship (Courtesy/ Newport Express).

During his freshman year at Lyndon State College, Randolph native James Ingalls made a decision.

Although he had been a standout member of the top-notch RUHS varsity basketball teams of the mid-90s, he realized that playing basketball wouldn’t be his future. The time necessary to play at the college level was just too much.

He had to come to college to study, he decided, not to play basketball. Furthermore, he realized, it was teaching, working with young people, that he really loved, even more than court time for himself.

So instead of trying out for the Lyndon State basketball team, Ingalls dropped by Lake Region High School in nearby Barton and asked if they could use some coaching help. The Lake Region people were delighted. They put him in charge of the eighth grade team.

During his sophomore and junior years, Ingalls assisted with coaching at the high school, and as a senior he was also the junior varsity coach.

After graduating, he returned to Randolph and coached freshman boys for a year or two, then he returned to Lake Region for good, as coach and P.E. teacher. He had discovered a career.

This spring that career blossomed in a big way. In his fifth year as varsity coach, Ingalls mentored his team to a 21-3 regular season and then swept the playoffs to win the Division 3 state championship.

In the process, he was voted Vermont’s Coach of the Year in Division 3.

And oh yes—just before the first playoff game he became a father for the first time. His wife Erica, a Barton native, delivered a daughter Bailey Elizabeth.

Tough To Concentrate

Concentrating on basketball at that time was "very tough," he admitted. He had to miss three or four playoff practices, and right after the first game (a five-point squeaker against Enosberg), he drove to the hospital to pick up Erica and Bailey Elizabeth.

He kept his concentration enough to Beat BSA Fairfax by 13 points and then Twin Valley by 12 in the semi-finals.

Then, his Lake Region team faced Winooski in the Barre Aud final. Winooski had edged Lake Region to top the conference, and had beaten them in the last game of the season.

"But we knew we were the better team," Ingalls said this week. "We just didn’t play very well that last game." He set out to prove it, and his team responded with a 56-42 championship win.

He credited the success to a cohesive, quick team with good outside shooting, tough defense and a great work ethic.

The beginning of Ingalls’ varsity coaching career did not exactly bode well. The team won two games and lost 32 during his first two years. The next year, it won four games.

Last year came a big improvement, as the team won 12 games and advanced to the semi-finals in the tournament.

Ingalls was a familiar tall and lanky figure on the RUHS basketball court until he graduated in 1995. His sophomore year the team went 19-1, with Andrew Wirtz leading the offense, but sputtered in the playoffs. The Ghosts were 12-8 his junior year and 14-6 his senior year. (The next year they won the championship.)

Ingalls credits RUHS coach Bruce Viens with much of his coaching savvy, especially his emphasis on defense. And he thinks he made the right choice in going into coaching.

"I love it," he said this week. "I love the idea of being able to help young people. I love teaching, helping them progress in skills."

And with a championship, a big award, and a little daughter all coming within a couple of weeks, he had to admit: "It’s been a great year."