Bedford boys basketball comes back in second half to get win over Nashua South (video)

NASHUA - The first half of Friday night's game was a worst-case scenario for the Bedford High School boys basketball team.

The Bulldogs struggled to score against Nashua South's zone defense, which meant they weren't able to get into their full-court press as often as they'd like, which led to a lack of turnovers and opportunities to score more in transition.

For a team that averaged 81.8 points per game in its last seven, going into halftime with 23 on the scoreboard was eye-opening, but in the second half, Bedford was able to turn things around by getting turnovers in the halfcourt and scoring from Luke Soden.

Soden scored 13 of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter and South turned the ball over 11 times in the second half, with seven coming in the fourth, as Bedford rallied for a 64-58 win in a Division I game in Nashua.

"I don’t know what the shooting percentage was, but it was pretty miserable," Bedford coach Frank Moreno said. "I’ve seen them play the last two games, I knew they were going to come out in that zone. We were prepared for it, we just weren’t knocking down shots. We were rushing.

"We went in and said when we get points in transition, we’re really good, but when we get in the halfcourt, we’ve got to simplify it a little bit. We tried to get it into the high post a little more and tried to get some mid-range shots and they started falling for us. I think that gave us a little more confidence."

Soden hit all three of his 3-pointers in the third, helping the Bulldogs (12-1) close the quarter on a 13-4 run, while Aiden O'Connell had 11 points and Nikolas Badoian came off the bench to finish with 10 points.

But perhaps the biggest shot of the game for Bedford belong to Sean Toscano, who hit one of his two 3-pointers with 1:07 left in the game to give the Bulldogs a 58-55 lead.

"He didn’t have many points on the night, but that gave us the lead," Moreno said. "He was struggling in the first half, but he shoots the ball with confidence and we have all the confidence that he’s going to make one of those. I thought Niko had a really good second half for us. He had a couple of steals. Caden Brown and Luke were jumping in passing lanes and that really helped us because we were able to get easy baskets in transition."

South (9-3) had three players in double figures, getting 15 points from Josh Caruso, including two 3s, and 14 points from Zach Castonguay. Alize Roig-Cortes came off the bench to add 11 points, with two 3s, the second of which came with under two minutes to play, after Bedford took a 54-52 lead, its first since the Bulldogs led 1-0 in the opening minutes.

After starting the year with wins in eight of nine games, the Panthers have dropped two of their last three, and coach Nate Mazerolle found this one to be more frustrating because of the second-half turnovers.

"We’ve seen them annihilate teams with their pressure," the coach said. "We were prepared for it and we thought we did a nice job breaking it. They got us once, and we told them, if it’s early and they take the press off, we like our chances.

"(In the second half), we started throwing the ball all over the gym. That was the most disappointing thing and the one thing I’ll keep coming back to, because it’s a situation where they weren’t even pressing us. At the times we stopped them, they weren’t making 3s, and we were getting rebounds and running, that’s where they turnovers (happened). We had the ball, we had breakouts, we just made poor decisions."

South led by as many as 11 points in the first half and took a 30-23 lead into halftime. A 3 by Caruso to open the third quarter got the lead back up to 10 points and the Panthers led 44-32 with 4:04 left in the frame after a basket by Castonguay.

South had a chance to extend the lead, but back-to-back turnovers led to a jumper and a 3 by Soden. The Panthers took a timeout and Roi-Cortes scored out of the break to make it 46-37 South, but Soden answered with another 3. The junior added another in the final minute of the third to make it 48-45 South going into the fourth.

"He’s solid for us and he can really score the basketball," Moreno said of Soden. "He’s our go-to guy offensively. When he’s not hitting from outside, he can get to mid-range, so he’s one of the best players I’ve ever coached. He’s so well-rounded. He plays defense, he rebounds, he does everything for us."

Even when the Panthers were looking for him on defense, Soden was finding ways to to get open and score.

"He's a very good scorer," Mazerolle said. "There were a couple of possessions, out of a timeout or they’re running down the floor, (we’re yelling) find No. 11, find No. 11, and he gets a wide-open look. That’s when, as a coach, you’re infuriated. I know it’s a zone, but we talked about that once or twice."

Soden tied the game at 52 by making the front end of a one-and-one and then came up with a steal at the other end before hitting Badoian for a layup that gave Bedford a 54-52 lead. After Roig-Cortes's 3 gave the Panthers the lead back, O'Connell tied it by making one of two free throws, and after another South turnover, Toscano put the Bulldogs in front for good with his 3.

The Panthers had a chance to tie the game twice in the final minute with a 3, but each time, the Bulldogs fouled before South could get a shot off. The teams ended up trading free throws until four straight by Soden in the final 12 seconds put the game away for Bedford.