Exeter boys basketball controls both ends in win over Nashua South in D1 quarters

NASHUA - The Exeter High School boys basketball team has had a similar game plan defensively the last three times it faced Nashua South.

The Blue Hawks wanted to make things difficult for Panthers senior Josh Caruso and force someone else to beat them, but on the previous two occasions, it hadn't worked.

In Saturday's Division I quarterfinal, it did, as No. 5 Exeter held Caruso and No. 4 South to a season-low point total in a 60-44 win at South's Belanger Gymnasium. The win puts the Blue Hawks in the D1 semifinals for the first time since 2019, where they will face No. 1 Bedford, which defeated No. 9 Windham 66-59, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Rochester Rec Center.

Exeter (16-4) jumped out to an early lead, and aside from a South run to start the third quarter, maintained it for most of the afternoon.

Nate McNeff led the way for the Blue Hawks with 21 points, including three 3-pointers, and Nick Greco added 19 points while Tyler Ream chipped in with 11 points, nine of which came from behind the 3-point line.

"I thought our effort level was outstanding," Exeter coach Jeff Holmes said. "Our kids were ready. We’ve got really good senior leaders and it’s a good group of kids. They like each other. I thought we played really hard and you’ve got to this time of year or else you’re going home."

Caruso led South (15-5) with 15 points, with two 3s, and Linc Vanderhorst added nine points as the Panthers were held well below their season average of 68.6 points. Only twice this season had South scored under 60 points in a game.

"It almost seems redundant to say they are a very well-coached basketball team," South coach Nate Mazerolle said. "Their point guard, Nate McNeff, is one of the best players in the state, as is Nick Greco. They dominated the first half. They defended Josh (Caruso) very, very well. We got frustrated at times, we tried a bunch of different things, not much worked. They played better than us."

In the previous two meetings - both South wins - Caruso had 40 and 32 points, respectively, with the later coming in a 64-52 Panthers victory just 15 days prior.

"We made it an emphasis to make it hard for (Caruso) and deny him the ball and rotate guys and make someone else beat us," Holmes said. "We were able to rebound out of the zone, that was a big key. They didn’t get a ton of second shots. They’re a very good rebounding team."

As much as Exeter might have focused on its defense, it got off to a great start at the other end, taking a 10-2 lead less than four minutes into the game. The Blue Hawks were up 16-8 going into the second quarter before the Panthers closed the gap to 25-20 at the break.

South regrouped and stormed out to start the second half, going on a quick 8-1 run to take a 28-27 lead and force Exeter to take a timeout. The lead changed four times in the next two minutes, with Caruso giving the Panthers a 33-32 lead on a 3 with 3:45 left in the third.

But those would be South's last points of the quarter, as Exeter scored 11 straight points to end the third and a 3 by Ream to open the fourth made it a 14-0 run and a 46-33 lead for the Blue Hawks. The lead grew to as much as 20 points in the final quarter.

"We just kept playing," Holmes said. "It’s a game of runs and their a good team. We’re not going to shut them out. We were never really playing from behind. We got behind maybe (one point) and then hit a 3 and took the lead again. It was a great performance by our guys."

A performance that left the stymied Panthers stunned.

"We want to run and we tried," Mazerolle said. "What they did very well to start was at the point of impact. They stopped the ball. We didn’t get that quick outlet and then they scrambled back. They always found Josh. We saw there were defenders there and we just didn’t attack enough."