Cingire uses Flattery’s coaching, teaching to win national title

CONCORD, NEW HAMSHIRE - Preparation for a sports contest requires a lot of physical training, but a lot of times the ultimate difference between winning and losing is in the athlete's mental preparation.

Former Fairfield high School basketball player Dante Cingire says that fact is something he learned that has made a difference in the contest of life as well.

'I would say the biggest thing I learned from basketball and from my coaches is the mental preparation,” Cingere said. 'That preparation comes in handy in life and especially with academics.”

Cingere used the teaching and coaching he acquired in high school when he was a starting point guard for New Hampshire Technical Institute Lynx this season.

'First of all, Dante has a great work ethic,” Fairfield boys basketball coach Mick Flattery said. 'He had a dream of playing college basketball and wouldn't take no for an answer.”

'(Coach Flattery) showed me how to prepare,” Cingire said. 'He showed me how he prepares. He showed me what kind of preparation that it takes as a coach.”

After graduating as a Trojan, Cingire played at Iowa Central his freshman year then went to NHTI for his sophomore year.

The Lynx became the first basketball team from the state of New Hampshire to ever win a national championship when they defeated Golden State Baptist College in the USCAA Championship Game on March 5. The United States Collegiate Athletic Association is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 78 mostly small colleges, community colleges and junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 National Championships and 2 National Invitationals annually. The Lynx won their last 17 games of the season to claim the USCAA national title.

'That was unreal. The feeling was just great,” Cingere said.

The closest game they had on the way to the title game, a 74-70 win, was a double overtime game to win the Yankee Small College Conference championship.

'It was a nail-biter from the start,” Cingere said. 'We would go up a little bit and then Vermont Tech would go up a little bit.”

Vermont Tech was ahead by seven points in both of the overtimes.

'We somehow were able to come back,” Cingere said. 'I guess the basketball gods were on our side. There were a lot of clutch shots made by both teams.”

In the first overtime, NHTI converted a couple of clutch three-pointers. In the second overtime, NHTI trailed 107-100 and hadn't converted a single shot. Cingere went back into the game with about two minutes remaining.

'I hit a 3-pointer and I think that really started the momentum again for us,” Cingire said.

A teammate then hit a 3-pointer from the corner and then there was a layup and the Lynx pulled out the win.

'We scored the winning points when a teammate went coast to coast and made the layup, but then they still had time to take a shot,” Cingire said. 'But they missed it, so we were able to win.”

The team showed a lot of fortitude because just playing in the conference championship had already qualified them for the national tournament.

'We were already guaranteed the six seed in the national tournament but since we won the conference title, that gave us the fourth seed,” Cingire said.

He was the starting point guard so he played a lot during a season that produced a 28-3 record.

'It was so unreal,” Cingire said. 'I think it's the biggest accomplishment that I have ever had. It was definitely a great feeling. I think it's the greatest accomplishment that team has ever had. We had our conference tournament two weeks before we went to the nationals. We had won that and that was a great accomplishment. I think winning that really helped us get things rolling. Our goal was to win conference and make it to nationals and we did better than that.”

Cingire ended up out east because his father lives in Auburn, Maine. After he had decided to transfer from his freshman season at Iowa, he emailed a lot of schools in the area where his dad lived.

'That resulted in me getting a text back from NHTI,” Cingire said. 'That is where I ended up deciding to go. I really liked the coaching staff. They were the difference that drew me in to there.”

He will graduate at the end of the semester with an associate of arts degree in business. Everything has been online as of March 25 when he packed up and left the college because of the novel coronavirus.

'I just moved all my stuff out,” Cingire said. 'I am going to stay with my dad for the remainder of the semester.

He is undecided about what college will have the opportunity to use his talents next.

'The area doesn't matter too much because I like to travel,” Cingire said. 'It's basically going to be wherever presents the best opportunity.”

Opportunity is where he has thrived. Cingire averaged 3.9 points a game as a sophomore at Fairfield and the nine points a game as a junior on a 9-14 team.

Tyler Miklo was his coach in his sophomore and junior years. He mentions Miklo, John Kruzich, Acie Earl, Coach Woody, Brenden Higgins, Mitch Hoss and Coach Perkins as high school coaches that made a difference to him and Darren Johnson, Simon Keeling, Irving Harris, Paul Hogan and Travis Maser as college coaches.

He played for Flattery his senior year when the Trojans went 14-9.

'Coach Flattery definitely had a big impact on me as a player and on us as a team when he took over,” Cingire said. 'I think what he did when he came in was he brought an attitude that just changed the whole culture. I don't think we had a winning environment at the school for basketball. He knew how to win. He know how to bring people together. He knew how to handle kids whether we played well together or not. He really made us play as a team and I think that was the biggest difference.”

'He was very persistent in getting into the gym on his own, shooting off the gun, doing ball handling and dribbling drills and getting into the weight room,” Flattery said. 'I coached Dante for one year and loved every minute of it.”

Flattery knew how to handle different personalities and get the most out of them with the proper preparation.

'That meant a lot to me as a player and as a point guard because you are the main guy, the quarterback on the floor who has to get people where they need to be and set up plays,” Cingire said. 'He really stressed making the right pass and talking to the players, bring them up when they're down. He showed me a lot of that and how important all of that is.”

Flattery shared another thing with him that has helped him in life or schoolwork and on the basketball floor.

'I gave him the keys to the car, if you will,” Flattery said. 'I let him lead our high-paced offense. He needed me to believe in him which I did. We had a very good team and Dante directed the offense. He was definitely an extension of me, coaching, on the court, the quarterback.”

Cingire averaged 10.1 points his senior year on 42.4 field goal percentageand 39.3 3-point percentage.

'He went to a double-digit scorer, dropped his turnovers by a total of 30 while playing in a fast-paced offense,” Flattery said. His free throw and field goal percentages went up from his junior year.

'Dante was very quick and could score off the dribble, from 3, off the break and from the free throw line.”

While Flattery shared the figurative keys to the car, there was a literal key as well.

'If I was to say he shared a secret with me, that secret would be the key to the gym,” Cingire said. 'To be honest that was the biggest secret, the key to the gym.

'Even though we're just a small town Class 3A school, Coach showed me what it takes to win, what it takes to prepare to win. To be a coach, there's so much more than just what people see. He had to get the floor ready, he had to get the balls out there, to unlock things. He had to make sure he had researched drills we needed to be competitive. He made sure that we weren't stagnant at any time in the practice, just standing around. There were always goals.”

He has his own personal goal.

'Whenever my playing days come to an end, I want to go into coaching,” Cigire said.

'I am so proud of him, not giving up his dream, working out on his own, making him into the player he has become,” Flattery said. 'I would love to have him back coaching with me someday!”