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Dubois a determined leader for Manchester Essex

Tuesday, March, 11 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

Tournament wins used to be foreign to Manchester Essex girls basketball coach Lauren Dubois.

Now, after just three years at the helm, the Beverly native knows the postseason as well as the information she presents in her history classes at Manchester Essex.

A standout in her days at Beverly High, Dubois won only one tournament game as a Panther.

In the last two seasons as the Hornets coach, she's tasted postseason victory seven times in nine games. She also got her first chance to patrol the sidelines on the legendary parquet of the TD Banknorth Garden yesterday afternoon. Although her team suffered a 44-36 overtime loss to Cohasset in the Division 4 state final, Dubois knows the significance of playing at the Garden.

It wasn't that long ago that Dubois, a 2000 graduate of Beverly High, dreamed about playing beneath the Boston Celtics' 16 championship banners.

"Oh, we always dreamed of that," Dubois said. "It seems like nobody gets this close. I had never been within a game of this and they, two years in a row, have been right there. The good thing about our program is how hard the girls work. During the regular season we prepare them for the tournament and the kinds of things they can do when they get here."

In Dubois' second season, the Hornets managed only six regular season wins before charging to the Div. 4 North final. This year, Dubois guided Manchester Essex to a 14-6 regular season record and four more postseason wins.

A small school playing in the Cape Ann League, Manchester Essex benefits from playing against teams similar in size in the tournament.

It's a stark contrast from Dubois' playing days as a Panther. Beverly played mostly Div. 2 and 3 teams in the Northeastern Conference before moving on to the Div. 1 state tournament.

In the four years Dubois played in the Beverly program, the Panthers went 1-4 in the tournament. Their only win was a 42-40 decision over Lexington in Dubois' junior year.

"We were tops in our league (senior year), but we played in Div. 1 so it was hard to compete," Dubois said. "This is kind of a reversed role here. We struggle in the regular season and then the tournament comes and we just explode, which I think is a little more exciting."

It's a level of excitement that Dubois never expected so early in her coaching career.

After graduating from Bates College | where she played four years of basketball | Dubois knew teaching was the professional avenue she would explore. She figured coaching would eventually become part of that, but she didn't anticipate becoming a head coach in just her second year.

"I've always wanted to be a teacher, so with that the idea of coaching has always been part of that," Dubois said. "When I step into the gym at the end of the day they're ready to go. It's different from teaching. They all want to be there and they're all excited about it. They have so much fun and so much chemistry. Just being around them brightens your day."

As much as Dubois has taught her players in three years, she's learned just as much from both the players and assistant coach Marty Steffan.

"I jumped right into the fire," Dubois said. "I've learned so much. It was just translating what I knew as a player into coaching. Hopefully, I'm teaching them something." Dubois' history as a player helped her prepare the Hornets for the excitement of playing at the Garden.

She had a simple message for her team.

"Just to have fun," Dubois said. "We wanted them to come in, take it all in, and really be proud of the accomplishment just to get to this spot. But we also wanted them to come to win and play their game. We wanted them to leave it all out there and play hard for 32 minutes, knowing this was the last game possible for the season."

So often when former players begin their coaching career, it's difficult to avoid the feeling of wanting to play. It took Dubois three years to get over that feeling, and she credits this year's club for helping her feel like a coach instead of a former player.

"It's hard not to play," said Dubois, who still looks like she could be a defensive stopper on any team on the North Shore. "I told the girls the other day that this was really the first season I didn't miss playing anymore. It was so fun and so exciting to coach them and watch them."

Additional stories:

• Hornets run out of magic in OT
• North champs met their match against similar Skippers