Muccioli, Nashua South hold on to beat Nashua North to win Chick-fil-A Basketball Tournament

NASHUA - The championship game of the Chick-fil-A Holiday Basketball Tournament was more than six minutes old and the scoreboard said Nashua High School South had just two points.

The Panthers were down six to Nashua North and struggling to get the offense going, having turned the ball over three times.

And then South's Anthony Muccioli took over.

The senior hit a jump shot with 95 seconds left in the quarter. After a North free throw, he came back down the floor and drained a 3. Twenty seconds later, Muccioli drained another 3, giving South a lead it would not relinquish.

Muccioli's layup with 1:15 to play iced the game, as the Panthers held on for a 46-40 win over the Titans to win the tournament title for the first time since 2008.

"Sometimes we have to ride Anthony like that," South coach Nate Mazerolle said. "My coaching philosophy is ‘hey, let’s run the offense, let’s move the ball,’ but sometimes, you have to loosen the reigns and say go.

"I looked up and there’s two minutes left in the quarter and we have two points. We had those problems the last couple of years and I thought we’d overcome that. (Muccioli) has a sense of that. He knows, as a senior captain, he’s got to take over sometimes. He did that."

Muccioli finished with a game-high 21 points, including 4 3-pointers, and he was named the tournament's most valuable player. Jack Preston added 10 points for South and was also named to the all-tournament team.

North got 12 points from Javon Williams, who sat out most of the first half in foul trouble. Mike O’Connor added nine points and Anthony Farmer had seven, as the Titans played without Ryan Gauthier in the second half for an undisclosed reason.

Despite what North coach Steve Lane called a "step back," he was pleased that the Titans managed to get as close as they did. North trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half, but closed the gap to three points with under two minutes to play.

"Only losing by six after being trounced in the first half, trounced in the third quarter, and showing an effort and the guts to come back, showed me something about this team," Lane said. "We competed in the second half. We’ve got to learn to play with more composure, we’ve got to learn to play with a little more poise, and not let emotions get in the way of actually playing basketball. It’s a learning experience for a lot of players."

North got out to the early lead, but in the span of 40 seconds, Williams picked up two fouls and went to the bench with 2:43 left in the opening frame. South took advantage, with Muccioli going on an 8-1 run of his own to end the first.

Preston opened the second quarter for South with a layup and a dunk that put the Panthers up 14-9, and a jumper by Kevin Morrissey made it a seven-point lead. Williams returned not long after that, but picked up his third foul on a charge and went back to the bench for the remainder of the half.

The lead grew to 12 by halftime, and South extended it to 15 two minutes into the third quarter.

The Panthers led by 13 at the end of the third, but as they tried to slow the game down, they struggled to make shots, and North began to chip away.

"It’s a catch-22, because then there’s no rhythm," Mazerolle said. "We still took a lot of bad shots in that stretch where they came back, but we shortened the game, which we wanted to do. If we could do that, and then get a layup or get fouled, perfect. We aren’t there yet."

The Titans went on a 12-2 run that spanned almost five minutes of the fourth quarter, with a layup by Williams making it a 41-38 game with 1:54 to play.

South slowed things down at the other end, and Muccioli finished off a long possession with a basket that put the game out of reach.

"They beat us on the boards and beat us to lose balls," Lane said. "They had a lot of hustle points. A lot of the little things, they did better, and they deserved to win. Our effort was still good, and we played hard."

The two teams will meet again in the regular season on Jan. 27 at North.

Third-place game: Alvirne 59, Thornton Academy 33

Tyler Livingston hit three 3s and scored 13 points to help the Broncos to a third-place finish Thursday in the Chick-fil-A Holiday Tournament at Nashua South.

Livingston finished the tournament with 49 points over three games, with nine 3-pointers, and was named to the all-tournament team.

Sean Dunn added 10 points for Alvirne while Tony Beaulieu and Robbie Diamond each added nine.

Thornton got 12 points from Jeff Gelinas while James Ek chipped in with nine.