Johnny Thibeault was a year behind me throughout school so I never came to know him until Attleboro High School.
I watched him throughout junior high and his game was pretty pedestrian, but John took it upon his own shoulders to work extremely hard to improve his basketball and football skills, and by his junior year he had improved on both to the degree where Coach Cassidy was giving him playing time in both and he played significant roles in several high-stakes games in AHS history. Johnny remembers it this way:
My best sports memory was my junior year, 1966 in a basketball game against Coyle High School. Coyle had a great team with names like Freddy Martin, George Northaway Martin and Pat Sault. On the floor for us that night were big Dave Hardt, Leo Charron, Rod Rovzar, Frank Marcoccio and myself. We had to win this game in order to advance to the Eastern Mass. Tech tourney, a real feather in the cap for any team in our portion of the country. The tournament games were played in the venerable old Boston Garden.
We were down by 2 with 15 seconds on the clock in the game.
I hit a jump shot from the top of the key to tie the game — Coyle came down court and missed the shot to clinch the win.
I grabbed the rebound, raced up caught in from the corner of my eye, saw Dave Hardt at the top of the key. I fed him the ball, then with several guys swatting around him. Dave sank the winning shot at the buzzer and pandemonium broke loose.
Fans rushed onto the court.
In closing this chapter, I’ll also remember making the all Bristol County league team my senior year, along with some great players like Ernie Fleming of Durfee, Freddy Martin of Cornell, Tommy Gomes of Voke and having my picture taken with great Johnny Most, our broadcaster for the game.
Other players on the 1966 team: Danny Johnson, Ward Nolan, Ron Robichaud and had, Gerry Coren, Tommy Houle, Bill Wintringham and Steve Mendrzychowski.The legendary Jim Cassidy was head coach, assistant coach Frank O’Connell.
The 60’s were good years for us. Hanging out at Jolly Cholly’s and the A & W root beer stand. To this day I’m still hanging out with the Furtados — Ed and Ken — 50 years now. God bless old friends, now gone ... Doug Johnson, Gary DiNardo, Louis Parker and Bill Bergevine.
Take care, Tom hope I could help you out.
And God bless you too, John ...
And may God also bless a wonderful, giving man, Guy Doble, who died Aug. 4. I could say and write platitudes about the type of man, Doble was, but 100 years from now it will probably all come to nothing, but the book in the Great Upstairs will still be ticking off his glories ...
Peace ...