By Marc Thaler
Staff Writer

TRIO OF OPTIONS – From left, Steve Yeaton, Ben Ruoff and Tim Plante will lead the Pembroke Academy Spartans in their return season in Class I. PAspent the last two years in Class L and hope playing against the state’s largest schools last yearwill translate into wins in 2004-05.(Marc Thaler Photo)

Chris Gleason, Pembroke Academy’s first-year boys varsity basketball coach, doesn’t place much significance in preseason recognition. But his players sure do.

While the new head coach describes his group as very respectful, the Spartans’vet-eran leaders said the team didn’t take kindly to being disrespected by prognosticators.

But being overlooked this year – in their return to Class I – will serve as a serious source of motivation for this corps.

“We want to prove once again that we’re a basketball school,” said senior Ben Ruoff. “The last two years, that image was taken away from us.”

Ruoff was referring to the Spartans’stint in Class L, where PAwas consistently overmatched by opposing teams that drew from much larger talent pools. Last year, PAwon just one game.

“It was a lot tougher,” Ruoff said. “We were playing against guys who were six-feet tall every night and getting beat by 20 points more often than not.”

“Everything about the game was a lot more intense,” said senior Steve Yeaton. “It was more intense than I had ever seen it.”

But Ruoff and Yeaton, along with junior Tim Plante, agreed the experience was worthwhile. The trio said playing at the large-school level taught the team many valuable lessons, which they’d like to pass along to a few Class I opponents.

“If we get down in a game, we’re not gonna quit,” Plante said.

“And we hope to upset a lot of teams,” Ruoff added.

Gleason wouldn’t put it past this bunch to achieve that goal. Familiar with the majority of the boys from his days as the freshmen and junior varsity coach, Gleason is undoubtedly the Spartans’ biggest booster.

“The first thing that comes to mind is ‘character,’” he said. “They’re all great kids and good students who are really supportive of each other.”

Every player brings a special ingredient to this year’s team, Gleason said. But one trait these guys share is the collective willingness to work hard.

“These are kids that I always have to kick out of here,” the coach said of his gym rats. “They are very focused. They want to bring basketball back to Pembroke Academy. Our goal this year isn’t just to make the tournament, but to host a tournament game.”

There’s a special pride that comes with donning the PA uniform and playing for the fans of the school, Gleason said. And that winning tradition, established by legendary coach Ed Cloe and those championship Spartans teams of the past, is something the current edition wants to bring back to campus.

“Every time we step into this gym, we look up at those (state championship) banners,” Gleason said. “Ed Cloe casts a pretty big shadow. He’s been a tremendous mentor and friend. I don’t expect that to change.”

In addition to Ruoff, Yeaton and Plante, the PA squad setting its sights on being one of the last schools standing includes assistant coach Meghan Lanigan; seniors Jeremy Breton, Jason Corbeil, Ross Dupont, Tim Riel and Tyler Stanyan; juniors Jonathan Berube, Tyler Boisvert and Jake Parris; plus sophomores Matt Conley and Zach Schmidt.

“For myself and for them, we really want to get to Durham (for the state quarterfinals),” Gleason said. “After everything we’ve gone through the last two years, we owe it to ourselves. Besides, once you get to Durham, who knows? You have to win three games and then you get to hang another banner.”