By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

The Douglas boys basketball team consists of 12 seniors out of its 15 players and, while Coach Chad Gosselin is all in with his seniors this season, he knows that the following year is definitely going to be a rebuilding year.

 “This group of seniors have been playing basketball together since the fourth grade and have come together on the high school level over the past three seasons,” the Tiger’s Coach said. “We’ll worry about the future after the season, for now its all about the seniors.”

Adam Dunphy, one of three Douglas captains to take to the court this winter, has upped his game this season and the Tigers will be looking to go through him as the season progresses. After averaging between 12 and 15 points per contest last season, the senior center is scoring 19 points per game thus far this season and is the team’s workhorse.

 “He knows the offense is going to go though him,” the Coach said. “We will be relying on him to lead us, and we will go as far as he takes us this season.”

Another tri-captain that will spark the team will be Issac Gosselin and he, like Dunphy will be a catalyst to how far this team can go. Gosselin will be the team’s distributor and as long as he keeps the ball in his possession the Tigers will be in a good place.

 “From last year to this year he has improved dramatically,” the Douglas Coach said. “He is our decision maker. He’s averaging about eight or nine points a game, but he has games where he has the ability to score a lot more, but his main focus will on distributing the ball.”

The final tri-captain is Colton Howard, who will play the 2 or 3 guard. He is a mid-range shooter who provides communication on the floor. Josh Farrell is the team’s shooting guard who is also the team’s defensive lynch pin on the floor. Gosselin is also looking for him to be that attacker to the rim on offense.

Owen Gray and Brady Nolan, both in the 6’ 3-4” range will give the team some height ability. The Coach calls Gray the team’s x-factor; having just returned to the starting lineup he has the ability to light up the scoreboard at any time. 

“He’s a mad man on defense and when his confidence is not there offensively, he buys into it defensively and takes us to another level,” Gosselin said. 

Nolan also gives the Tigers a defensive presence inside, making the opposition’s shots more difficult. He will also block a good number of shots and grab his share of rebounds.

Douglas’ identity basically starts on the defensive end of the court. The team plays with a scrappiness and will fight to the last possession; according to the coach defense is huge, as it turns into offense.

One other senior who will provide some key moments will be Gavin Gualtieri. Last year he found himself coming off the bench, but after shedding 60 pounds he is now one of the quickest athletes on the squad. His speed will be used primarily as a defensive player to get the team transitioning.

Matt Doyle, Gavin Morin, Ethan Vassar, William and Andrew Hogan round out the seniors, while Cam Beauregard, Stoen Slowik and Zach Sargent are the juniors who will take on the identity of the team next year.

The Tigers have been able to qualify for the Division 5 State Tournament the last two years but have not had all that much success once there. Two years ago, they were the 21 seed and fell in the first round and fell to Hull, while last season they entered the post-season as the 23 seed where they took out Atlantis Charter in the first round, but then fell to Roxbury Prep Charter in the next round. 

Gosselin is hoping that the team can once again venture into the State Tournament, but with a little more success this year.

“Our goals this year are to win the Dual Valley Conference Championship, make a run at the Clark Tournament and break into the Elite 8 in the Division 5 State Tournament,” the Douglas Coach said. 

With a dozen seniors on this year’s squad who have played together for some time now, Gosselin is hoping that they can gel at the right time and take this team deep into the State Tournament. The juniors are biding their time to take over the team next winter.