Nashua North boys basketball comes back to beat Windham, return to D1 semis (video)

NASHUA - The situation was on the verge of getting bleak.

That's how Steve Lane felt when he called a timeout midway through the second quarter Saturday, with his Nashua High School North boys basketball team trailing Windham by 10 points.

It turned out that break was just what the Titans needed.

No. 3 North went on an 11-2 run to end the first half and got back-to-back 3-pointers from Alize Roig-Cortes and Luke Peters to open the second, taking the lead for good in a 70-60 win over No. 6 Windham in Saturday's Division I quarterfinal.

The Titans now return to the semifinals for the third year in row, where they will face No. 2 Bedford, which defeated No. 10 Alvirne 69-51 in the quarterfinals. That game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at a site to be determined.

"We survived the half is I guess what we did," Lane said. "At 28-18, it looked pretty dire, pretty bleak. They didn’t quit, they chipped away. Parth (Miglani) hit some big ones in the second quarter to keep us around. I’m proud of them. They deserve it, they work hard."

For the second straight game, Miglani scored most of his points in the second quarter, as the junior had 12 of his game-high 24 points in the frame. He finished the day with four 3-pointers and went 6 of 6 at the free throw line, as North (16-4) went 19 of 24 as a team, including 10 of 14 in the final two-plus minutes.

Robinson Rodriguez added 13 points for the Titans while Jaden Pena, Peters and Roig-Cortes each finished with 10 points.

"For me, I need to get better coming out of the gate stronger," Miglani said. "But once I get into the second quarter, my head is in the game and I’m in that flow state and nothing gets in my way. It’s me and the hoop.

"After that timeout, we knew we had some guys in foul trouble, so it comes down to people to step up and make those big shots. That’s really what it came down to."

The run to end the first half cut Windham's lead to one, 30-29, and 3s from Roig-Cortes and Peters made it 35-30 North and forced the Jaguars (13-7) to take a timeout just 1:17 into the half.

"Hitting two 3s in a row obviously helps," Lane said. "Being down one, I still thought we were down a million, the way we played in the first half. We turned it over, we did not rebound the ball on the defensive end very well, and those things they cleaned up. They took those things we said at halftime, hardly turned it over and dominated the defensive boards."

Windham got 12 points each from Caden Bouchard (four 3-pointers), Jack Murphy and Jack Begley. Jack Koutrobis also finished in double figures with 11 points, going 5 of 5 from the line.

"We knew coming in it was going to be a game of runs, a game of punches thrown," Windham coach Carson Desrosiers said. "We threw a couple of haymakers in the first half and they responded. They threw that first haymaker in the second half, and from that point on, we were playing from behind. We were always in the game."

The Titans maintained the lead the rest of the way, but the Jaguars never let it get comfortable. Every time it seemed North might start to pull away, Windham had an answer.

A 3-pointer by Miglani with just under six minutes to play made it a 10-point game, 54-44, but Windham cut it in half moments later. A steal and transition dunk by Murphy got the Jaguars within four points, 60-56, with 2:48 to go.

Windham started fouling to send North to the line after that and the Titans took advantage, extending the lead and keeping the Jaguars from scoring.