Who is the best high school basketball player in the state? That’s easy, Carson Desrosiers of Windham who plays for Central Catholic in Lawrence, Mass. The 6-11 junior is being wooed by just about everyone.
But what about players who are actually playing here? That’s easy too, Jordan Leguerre of Trinity. Sure the 6-1 junior forward would be a major college prospect if he was about four inches taller, but few basketball players in history didn’t wish they were a little taller.
Had Trinity won the Class L title two years ago, when it lost in the finals, there was a strong argument that Leguerre was the tourney MVP as a freshman. In the meantime he’s gotten stronger, taller, increased his shooting range and his ball-handling ability. Rumor has it UNH has already offered Leguerre a scholarship, but he may have bigger plans.
Another rumor at Memorial High School on Sunday, when Trinity and Legeurre beat the host Pioneers 61-49 in front of a quiet crowd filled with Class L coaches and their entourages, is that Leguerre could skip his senior year at Trinity to spend a couple years at a prep school (New Hampton?).
So who’s the best team? It has to be Trinity, with Leguerre and junior Cormac Fitzpatrick, whose NBA distance 3-pointers remind me of Exeter coach Jeff Holmes and his long-range set shots at Keene High School in the early 1980s. Unfortunately, it was before New Hampshire recognized the 3-point shot.
But Trinity, the Class L runner-up for two straight years, is certainly no lock, as it proved by barely getting by Londonderry (40-38) and Goffstown (52-46).
While some say Exeter and West are the surprise teams of the winter so far, I’ll vote for 3-3 Londonderry, which is coming off impressive wins over Memorial and Winnacunnet and lost its three games (Nashua South, Pinkerton and Trinity) by a total of nine points. Lancer mentor Jim Zorbas is building a good case for “Coach of the Year.’’