'Sentimental and surreal': Basketball binds Gosselin brothers, Nipmuc and Douglas coaches

DOUGLAS – Sue and Dan Gosselin positioned themselves as close to the center of the Douglas High School Gym as they could. She wore a Douglas Tigers jacket, and he donned Nipmuc green.

Wednesday's boys basketball game between Douglas and the visiting Warriors served as a Gosselin family reunion of sorts.

Eldest son Jason Gosselin took over Nipmuc in September after nearly a decade at Framingham. Younger brother Chad Gosselin is in his fourth year leading Douglas, their shared alma mater. His son Isaac – Jason's nephew – is a senior and the Tigers' third leading scorer.

"It's hard to cheer for a rival team you've been rooting against since they were eight years old," said Sue, a proud Sutton Suzie. "I never thought I would not cheer for Sutton. I won't cheer for Hopedale. I won't cheer for Nipmuc, even though Jason is doing it."

Grandson Isaac has her allegiance.

"And that's it."

The game didn't come up much over the holiday season. Better to leave it for the court.

Nearly all together

They were set to align under one banner for a time in the summer. When Jason stepped down from the Flyers' post, he intended to join Chad and Isaac at Douglas, his alma mater. Then the Nipmuc opportunity arose. He couldn't pass up the opportunity to coach in the area he grew up, even if it meant opposing his brother.

They clashed before. Jason brought the Flyers to Douglas last January and won by double digits. But doing it in a Dual Valley Conference matchup added heft.

"It's kind of a cool experience to think that you grow up with your brother battling about everything. You compete about everything," Jason said. "So to be able to coach it against him and and coach that group and coach against that group. It's a cool moment. I wish them nothing but the best except for two games a year."

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Chad is two years younger than Jason. They grew up playing against each other but often with each other. Jason was more of a shooter, while Chad drove to the basket. Both style their black hair similarly: shaved at the sides at the back and gelled lightly up top. Jason sports a goatee, while Chad wears a fuller beard.

"Chad is quiet and doesn’t get too worked up, though he’s a little bit worked up tonight," Sue said. "Jason is worked up, intense."

'Sentimental and surreal'

The brothers spent most of pregame warmups chatting closely or shaking hands with familiar faces. They held their pregame handshake tightly before the national anthem.

"You walk in and it's it's kind of sentimental and surreal," Jason said. "But once the ball started once the game started, we were good."

Douglas built an early lead behind knock down outside shooting, busting a Nipmuc zone that Jason employed as a changeup. The Warriors usually play man-to-man defense, and he knew that Chad knew that. Nipmuc toggled its defenses for the rest of the game and built its comeback on that end.

"We were switching it up the whole time, really just adjustments, honestly," said Nipmuc junior Logan Demarzo, who led the Warriors with 20 points.

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Nipmuc trailed 14-6 early after a 9-0 Douglas run, but the Warriors clawed into a 26-23 lead at halftime. They opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run and never looked back.

"We started working together as a unit," Nipmuc senior Jake Giardini said. "We kept it going from there."

After the buzzer sounded on a 59-49 Nipmuc win, Jason low-fived every member of the Nipmuc bench then clapped intensely to himself as he turned to the scoreboard. He shared a shorter handshake with Chad in the postgame line before they briefly embraced.

"As basketball junkies, and basketball heads since we were little kids, it's great to coach against your brother," Chad said. "He's done well."

'Your first best friend'

Giardini poked his head out of the locker room as Jason made his way down the back hallway. As a little brother, he understood the victory's significance.

"We all know how much this means to coach," Giardini said.

A few players exclaimed "uh oh" as Jason opened the door. They erupted as he sprinted toward them.

"There's nothing better than a happy locker room. It's a lot better than a sad locker room," Jason said. "Anything we can do to build camaraderie and togetherness is a good thing. Anytime a kid or a player can see the coach enjoy themselves, it's going to increase the fun they have. If I'm not having fun, they're not having fun. I'm about celebrating them so they can feel that."

The teams have one more meeting Jan. 18 in Upton. The brothers Gosselin will call each other and catch up before then. They're rooting for each other every other game of the year.

"We were competitive in everything we did, but he's your first best friend," Jason said. "It's cool to come back and share this. Basketball has been great to both of us."

Contact Kyle Grabowski at kgrabowski@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Nipmuc and Douglas basketball coaches bonded by sport and family ties