Basketball games at Oyster River High School are home to a raucous student section, all there to watch a dozen high school boys play their hearts out. Every whistle for the other team creates chaos, every alley-oop dunk, a roar. But without the high-flying action, where does that leave them?
The boys’ varsity basketball team is a staple of Oyster River High School (ORHS) culture. 2024 was a special year for ORHS basketball, going 17-6 and making it to the semifinals of the playoffs. The team has since lost three of their five starters, including junior star Matthew Jernigan (’27) to a transfer. These three starters take away a lot of value for the team, adding shooting and defense. The question people are asking is, how will the team keep the momentum going and continue its success? It turns out to be through a brand-new play system catered around the reconstructed roster that will be playing this season.
Since 2018, the varsity basketball team at ORHS has had its ups and downs. In 2018, the team went 17-8 and improved their record to 19-4 in 2019. 2018 was a huge resurgence of Oyster River basketball, as they went a combined 16-43 in the 3 years up to that point, winning only 3 games in 2017. 2018 was especially important because of the team’s deep playoff run, making their way to the Division II championship. By this point, ORHS had cemented itself as a powerhouse in Division 2. In 2020 they had a more disappointing record, going 11-9. In 2021, the team played just as mediocre, going 7-6 in a Covid shortened season. This marked the last year that Oyster River had a winning record. Despite this, ORHS still made the playoffs in 2023, and made it to the final 4, losing in a blowout loss to Pembroke.
That was up until last year, when the Bobcats played their way into a 17-6 record, with all their losses coming against teams with a winning record except for Milford. This includes Pembroke who were 5-1 going into that game and finished the season 20-2. This surprising team was led by Jernigan, Owen Jacques (’26) and Brennan Kirby (’25). Jernigan led the team in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game (PPG) in 14 games (249 total points) and upped his average to 21 PPG in the playoffs. The rest of the team featured solid depth like Max Scopel (’26), Cole Dulac (’25) and Will Clough (’25).
In the playoffs, the team beat 11-8 Merrimack Valley in the first round and beat 17-4 Hanover. They then lost to the 17-5 Sanborn Regional, ending their playoff run. Both Sanborn Regional and Hanover were ranked above ORHS in the 2025 power rankings on MaxPreps.
This summer, Jernigan decided to take his talents to Vermont Academy, leaving a big hole in the team’s identity. As a leader, Jernigan’s value to the team went beyond his skills on the court. With his departure, along with Kirby, Dulac and Clough all having graduated, the loss of these key pieces in the roster leaves big holes in the lineup. Scopel, now a senior, says, “We don’t have a leader to get behind with Matt [Jernigan]. It’s kind of a full team effort rather than, ‘hey, let’s assist him and then we’re a team.’”
As Oyster River basketball players prepare for this upcoming season, assistant varsity Coach Nick MacGregor shares his thoughts on who will step in to fill the space. “It’s just kind of next man up mentality and that starts with the coaching. We have to make sure that we set the example and the precedent that just because we lost a lot of the guys who played most of our minutes [last year], that doesn’t mean we’re going to be a bad team. So, we have to make sure that they understand that they believe it most importantly.” Jacques and Scopel, who posted averages of 8.4 and 6.2 PPG last year, will have larger roles this year as starters, with Jacques being the more likely primary scoring option, according to NHsportspage. In an article titled Division II Boys Basketball Preview on NHsportspage, they wrote “Owen Jacques has stepped up and played well for them.” This year will also show a bump in playing time for players Xander Ahn (’27), Evan Clift (’27), Ryland Sweat (’27), and Will Jernigan (’28) who will be the only underclassman in the starting lineup.
With a new team, new strengths and weaknesses come. MacGregor says, “We’re a very small team. We don’t really have a true big man who can be a presence in the paint to get rebounds and protect the rim. We have guys who can rebound, but I think our tallest player is probably 6-2.” MacGregor thinks that this will pose a problem against teams like Bow, who have kids that are much taller. Scopel is that tallest player, and he agreed, saying “I’m the biggest kid and I’m only like 6 foot, which luckily the league isn’t too tall this year.”
On the other hand, the team still shows lots of athletic prowess and speed. “We’re going to use our athleticism to fly around and make up for our lack of size and just be aggressive on defense and try to just outrun teams out of the gym.” says MacGregor.
Based on the lack of size, the team will likely play with a pace and space or small ball system. The way that this works is by playing through transition, getting back on offense after catching a rebound after a missed shot, or pressing on defense, not allowing an easy way to start a play. This will throw off the other teams by being quicker and smarter than them. A perk to having a strong shooting team is floor spacing. This is when all players on the court have shooting skill, allowing a shot to come from any player on the floor, no matter where they are. “A lot of motion, which just means everyone is rotating through continuously,” says Scopel. “We have a few plays that’s just again, like creating chaos because we’re usually going to be more athletic than a lot of the teams.”
Right now, it’s looking like the boys’ basketball team, even with a star depleted roster, has a shot to perform well, and to show NH that they still have it. They will run plays based on speed and shooting, despite this being a sharp change to last year’s system which was based around size and strength. It will be a trial of a season for sure, but this new group shows lots of promise, and extreme shooting talent.
The projected starting lineup for opening night is Sweat, Clift, Jernigan, Jacques and Scopel. The first boys’ varsity game is on December 12th at 6pm away against Hollis Brookline High School.
-Levi Clapp
Visuals courtesy of Kelly Anderson
Mouth of the River 
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