Tim LaTorra, Sunapee High’s girls’ head basketball coach who has led the Lakers to three-straight undefeated seasons and three state titles in NHIAA Division IV, confirmed Tuesday that he has stepped down from his position with the Lakers to take the girls’ basketball job at Division I’s Concord High.
“I want to make it clear: I am really proud to be a part of Sunapee,” said LaTorra, who will remain a physical education teacher at the school. “It’s a small community, but there is so much to offer there. I’m blessed to have been a part of both the girls’ and boys’ basketball programs for 10 years. I’m definitely looking forward to a new challenge, but it’s kind of bittersweet.”
The New England College grad said a variety of factors played into his decision: Dave Chase, who mentored LaTorra for a time during his 19-year tenure with the Hopkinton boys’ hoops program, accepted the boys’ basketball job at Concord last year. LaTorra’s wife is a teacher at Concord, and the move will allow the family to move to the Concord area.
“I was student teaching at the Hopkinton Elementary School (while in college) and Dave asked me if I’d be interested in helping out his team,” LaTorra said. “I said absolutely. That was my foot-in-the-door.”
LaTorra, a Windsor Locks, Conn., native who was Sunapee’s boys’ basketball coach for five years and took over the girls’ program in 2013, leaves Sunapee undeniably on top in D-IV, leading the Lakers to four consecutive championship appearances in five years as their coach. Sunapee also set D-IV records for points scored in the playoffs (295 in 2017) and points scored in a championship game (80 in 2015) under his tutelage and finished the 2016-17 season on a 72-game win streak dating back to 2014.
“I knew there was talent, but I had no idea it would get to this level,” LaTorra said. “Winning 72 games in a row, that’s mind-blowing to me.”
The Tide was 4-14 last season and missed the playoffs under Mike Achilles, who coached Concord for seven years.
LaTorra also said Concord was the only place he applied. He informed Sunapee Athletic Director Tom Frederick and Sunapee principal Sean Moynihan when he was called in for an interview, and said the job search had already begun. LaTorra’s job at Concord will become official at a Concord School Board meeting on Monday.
“That was weird,” he said of seeing the job posting. “I spoke to the girls last week. That was a really difficult conversation.”
LaTorra’s departure is another step in the transition currently underway for Sunapee basketball. Sunapee’s girls’ squad graduated seven seniors from this season’s group, including top-scorers Faith Larpenter, Sydney Clark and Katie Frederick. The boys are in the midst of a rebuild under head coach Tim Puchtler, who will begin his second season at the helm next winter.
But LaTorra said he’s looking forward to an opportunity with a D-I program, which he said presents a much different challenge from D-IV’s smaller selection of athletes.
“I changed a lot as a coach, switching from boys to girls, in a good way,” he said. “With the boys, I was young and thought I had it all figured out. … I changed my philosophy on things, I can communicate effectively on things and have the kids buy into each other. That’s what I’m most proud of.”