Defense leads Nashua South basketball to win over Bedford

NASHUA - When the offense went cold Tuesday night, there was no need for the Nashua High School South boys basketball team to panic.

Not the way the Panthers were playing defense.

South held Bedford to 25 points through three and a half quarters as the Panthers cruised to a 54-43 victory over the Bulldogs.

Jack Preston scored 18 points to lead South (7-1 in Division) and Nick Penkala came off the bench to add 10, but it was the defense that led the Panthers on the night.

"That was, I thought, one of our better defensive efforts," South coach Nate Mazerolle said. "Dan Auger just sets such a tone, he’s a one-man press. He makes life very difficult for the opposing point guard. Getting in the way and getting a hand on things, but I think his defense on the ball set the tone early."

At times, the Panthers needed every bit of that defense. While South took control of the game in the first quarter, it hit a dry spell in the second, scoring just four points over seven minutes.

But at the same time, the Bulldogs (3-5) couldn't find a way to score either.

"A lot of mental breakdowns, but (South) a good basketball team," Bedford coach Mike Fitzpatrick said. "We’ve just got to stay confident in ourselves and finish those things."

Bedford tried to finish, and continued shooting, but no matter where the Bulldogs shot from, they struggled to score. Ryan Brown led the Bulldogs with 12 points, nine of which came in the second half, while James Caparell scored all eight of his points in the first quarter.

For the first 6:35 of the game, Caparell was the only Bulldog to score, as South got out to leads of 13-4 and 19-8. Preston had eight points in the quarter, as the Panthers answered every time Bedford scored.

"That first four-minute stint was some of the best basketball we’ve played all year," Mazerolle said. "(Then) we settled for jump shots, and for the first seven minutes of the second quarter, we had four points. I told the guys at halftime, we’re too talented to score four points over seven minutes."

South took a 28-17 lead into the break, thanks in part to a buzzer-beating, half-court 3-pointer by Tim Preston (eight points), who got caught an inbounds pass with 1.1 seconds left on the clock.

The Panthers doubled up Bedford in the third, outscoring the Bulldogs 16-8, and with 4:27 left in the game, South had a 49-25 lead when both teams started emptying the benches. Bedford closed the game on an 18-5 run to make the final score a little more respectable.

South has a quick turned around, playing at Alvirne on Thursday, while Bedford heads to Concord on Friday.