NEWPORT — Kayden LaClair only found out over the summer that he would not be spending his senior year at Stevens High.

LaClair’s family, which includes his father Christopher and seven sisters, had lived in Claremont for Kayden’s entire life. But pandemic-related financial shortfalls made it hard for the large family to remain there, so the LaClairs relocated to nearby Newport last year.

Kayden completed his junior year at Stevens, where he averaged 11.5 points per game for the basketball team and also participated in soccer in the fall and track and field in the spring. New Hampshire state law, though, requires students to be legal residents of a school district in order to attend its public schools, meaning LaClair would attend Newport High, Stevens’ longtime rival, for his senior year.

“It was frustrating, because I wanted to play my final year with my friends I grew up with,” LaClair said.

The move was also potentially frustrating from a basketball perspective. LaClair had helped Stevens to its first winning season in four years as a junior, but Newport was coming off back-to-back winless campaigns and hadn’t even won five games in a year since the 2016-17 season.

With LaClair on board, though, the Tigers got off to a 4-4 start this winter before he sustained an ankle injury against Hinsdale on Jan. 26. He returned two nights later against Kearsarge, though not at full strength, and Newport lost its third game in as many days that evening by a combined four points.

“He’s a gentleman, and he doesn’t like to bring attention to himself,” Tigers coach Rob Clark said. “He’s a hard worker, and he’s showing our younger kids what it is to be a complete ballplayer. He could have come in with a completely different attitude, but his desire is to play basketball, and he’s a teammate.”

Christopher LaClair coached his only son in AAU basketball beginning in third grade on a team called One Last Life, named for the video game store in Claremont he has owned since 2016. This year, he started an additional position as the middle school family and consumer science teacher in Newport.

The move also gave Kayden the opportunity to play football for the first time since his freshman year, as Newport did not field a boys soccer team. LaClair made the NHIAA Division IV all-state second team as a wide receiver and also played cornerback, helping the Tigers reach the state championship game.

“He’s not the most vocal leader, but he leads by example,” Christopher LaClair said. “This team hasn’t had a lot of success the last couple years, so he’s brought a new energy to the team. As a father, it makes you happy to see your kid being a leader.”

Kayden scored 21 points in his Newport debut, a 75-50 loss to a Mascoma team that was in the Division III semifinals last year. Six days later, he was back in Claremont’s Frederick W. Carr Gymnasium, playing there as a visitor for the first time as the Tigers came up four points short to a much-improved Stevens squad.

The Tigers then defeated Fall Mountain, 71-53, as LaClair scored 18 points in his first home game in a Newport uniform.

He followed that up with another 21-point effort in a home loss to the rival Cardinals, and later turned in back-to-back 33-point games in blowout wins over Sunapee and Hillsboro-Deering.

“They enjoy having Kayden, and Kayden enjoys playing with them,” Clark said. “It’s probably different for Kayden, but he and the seniors are setting the tone in practice and in games with intensity that we haven’t had here in a while.”

LaClair had 18 points, many of them in transition, early in the fourth quarter of a tight game against Hinsdale when he landed on the foot of an opponent under the basket, remaining on the ground before being helped to the bench by his teammates. Playing at 50%, according to his father, LaClair was held to six points in his first game back.

Even that was encouraging, though, as LaClair said he did not think he would be able to return this season on the night of the injury. The quick recovery should keep his options open for a post-high school basketball career — he is considering heading north of the border to play at the University of New Brunswick, roughly a seven-hour drive from Newport.

“The thing I admire about Kayden the most is his ability to adapt to any situation,” Christopher LaClair said.

“He makes friends with everyone, so for some kids it might be hard going to your rival, but he blended right in and everyone loves him.”

Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.

CORRECTION: Kayden LaClair transferred to Newport High because New Hampshire state law requires students to reside in a particular school district to attend its public schools. A previous version of this story inaccurately described the reason for LaClair’s transfer.

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