IN SULLIVAN COUNTY, Edward J. Tenney, II's name was well known in the local courts; he was a prominent attorney and served as county attorney from 1970 to 1986. At about the same time that Tenney left that office, his son, Edward B. Tenney, II, also an attorney, began leaving his own impression on a court of a different kind: the basketball court.

A product of Stevens High School in Claremont, where he played as a so-so center on the basketball team, 6-foot-5-inch Edward B. Tenney, II went on to graduate from Franklin Pierce Law Center. Although his career was going well, the bachelor Tenney soon found himself looking for an "extra-curricular" activity to keep him occupied during his free time. Winter was coming, but he didn't like to ski. A friend who was the athletic director at nearby Kearsarge High School had a sudden opening for a junior varsity basketball coach, and Tenney said he'd give the job a whirl.

After three years with the JV boys' team, Tenney took over as coach of the girls' varsity team and during the past decade, he has built a mediocre program into a consistent tournament entry - some might say a powerhouse - among Class I (intermediate size) high schools. Tenney has taken his team to the quarterfinals eight years in a row and to the final four three of the last four years. The Kearsarge girls won the Class I state title in 1998, and they recorded two undefeated regular seasons in the last four years, including a 37-game winning streak. In 1992, Tenney took a New Hampshire all-star team to the final 16 of a New England AAU girls' basketball tournament - quite a feat for a team facing competitors from much larger states.

At press time, Tenney's team this year was 15-2 and was the second seed in the upcoming 2002 Class I tournament. By the time you read this issue, the Kearsage Cougars may be poised for another trip to the Class I finals at St. Anselm College the weekend of Feb. 22 (knock on wood).

Tenney has a soft-spoken intensity that draws you to him as he talks about basketball. He details his teams' successes in a confident but not arrogant manner. He talks about the values of competition, not just the statistics. Kristen Lucet, his star center and a senior, has scored more than 1,000 points in her career, he points out. With equal pride, he cites the fact that 95 percent of his team is on the honor roll. He tells his charges, "Be a winner, and let the winning take care of itself."

On the sidelines during a game, Tenney is vigilant and doesn't shrink from arguing against what he thinks is a bad call, but he's no scene-stealing, sideline-pacing, chair-throwing coach.

One of the most impressive aspects of Tenney's coaching career has been his ability to succeed even as his professional and family responsibilities have grown. Over the years since he started coaching, Tenney was appointed special justice of the Newport District Court (in 1991), he married his wife, Holly, and they now have three children.

"It is a struggle to get things done during basketball season," said Tenney, who oversees daily practices, coaches games as often as three times a week, and occasionally takes in other teams' games for scouting purposes. He also prepares and hands out written scouting reports to his teams - a rarity at that level of competition.

As Tenney's other responsibilities have grown, though, he has scaled back on the preparation and scouting time he put into coaching when single. It makes for a "healthier balance," he said. He loves practicing law, coaching and raising a family - and said he wouldn't want to surrender any of those roles.

"If you are going to forego the things that you are passionate about, you are going to end up resenting your career," he said. "I don't want to have to choose between my career and my interest in coaching. And I have been fortunate to have a very understanding wife."

Contributing to Tenney's ability to balance family, a law career and coaching is the mingling of those parts of his life. His work and family lives are well integrated: Holly works with him in the Tenney & Tenney law office. His children are also getting swept into his passion for coaching - his eight-year-old daughter, Alison, is turning into a junior gym rat, attending many of the team's games. She sits in the stands doing homework during the pre-game shootarounds and, wielding a clipboard, seriously follows the action from the bench during the game.

Basketball and the law aren't courts apart, Tenney maintains. Both coaching and legal work utilize some of the same analytical and persuasive skills. "In both settings you have to analyze your strengths and weaknesses, and those of your adversary. You then have to be able to sell your team on your concepts - just as you have to be persuasive sometimes when sitting down with your clients."

The time Tenney has spent coaching is compensated by a sense of accomplishment that's measured by more than wins and losses. "The games are fun, but they aren't enough to make up for all the time you spend in the gym," Tenney said. "I'm here to give kids a role model, to help them get the most out of themselves. I really do believe that sports help prepare you for life."

But make no mistake, Tenney does keep score. "It's fun to make something out of something that wasn't there. I've enjoyed having an impact," he said.

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