Nashua North boys basketball dethrones Bedford to reach D1 title for 1st time (video)

EXETER - Every season Parth Miglani has been on the Nashua High School North boys basketball team, the Titans have reached the final four.

This season, the junior couldn't let it end there again.

Miglani hit four 3-pointers and had 24 points and teammate Robinson Rodriquez added a game-high 26 to lead No. 3 North to an 84-68 win Wednesday night over No. 2 Bedford in the Division I semifinals at Exeter High School.

For the first time in program history, North will play for the D1 championship, as it will take on No. 1 Pinkerton, which beat No. 5 Trinity 82-71 in the other semifinal, at 4 p.m. Sunday at the University of New Hampshire's Lundholm Gymnasium.

It was the fifth semifinal appearance for the Titans, who had lost in that round the previous two years to Goffstown and Pinkerton, respectively.

"The past two years, I’ve been here in the same gym and been 0-2," Miglani said. "I told my teammates I wasn’t going to let them down. I can’t lose again, I can’t feel that pain again."

Miglani scored 12 points in each half and Rodriguez established his presence inside early, something that he wasn't able to do when the team's meet in the regular season, which Bedford won 81-76.

"The kids just continued to apply pressure to Bedford and get open looks around the paint for our big boy," North coach Steve Lane said. "I watched a lot of the game film from the first game and (Rodriguez) fouling out was a major impact. It’s different. If you don’t get in foul trouble, we’ve got a pretty good group of guys who can keep it going."

Jaden Pena added 18 points for the Titans (17-4) and Luke Peters was also in double figures with 10 while also drawing the defensive assignment of guarding Bedford's Luke Soden.

Soden, who averaged 25.4 points per game in the regular season, had 13 points for the Bulldogs (19-2).

"I knew it was going to be a big role," Peters said. "That shows that Lane trusts me a lot and I’ve got to live up to his expectations. Luke Soden is a great player and he’s a tough kid. He didn’t have a great night."

Bedford got 14 points each from Niko Badoian and Austin Kasyjanski, and while Bulldogs coach Frank Moreno thought his team played well, North was better.

"I don’t think we played bad, we just couldn’t hit shots and they hit everything," the coach said.
"Robinson had a huge game. They scouted us well. They packed it in the paint a little bit, which affected our drive stuff. Steve is one of the best coaches in the state. Hats off to him. They executed well and we struggled making shots."

North pounced early, getting out to an 11-2 lead midway through the first quarter, with Rodriguez accounting for six of those points. But Bedford responded, going on a 19-9 run to close out the quarter with a 21-20 lead.

The teams traded baskets early in the second, and with the scored tied at 25, Miglani hit a pair of free throws to put the Titans in front. He followed that up with a putback, and after a basket by Bedford's Spencer Henrichon, Miglani hit a 3 to give North a 32-27 lead.

Another 3 from Miglani in the final minute helped the Titans take a 40-33 advantage into halftime.

"For me, all it takes is one shot to fall, and as a shooter, it just clicks for me," Miglani said. "Shot after shot after shot, the repetition in practice and workouts, shooting over and over again."

North started to pull away in the third quarter, after the teams went back and forth to open the half. Back-to-back 3s by Miglani and Pena capped a 14-3 run that gave the Titans a 58-44 lead with just over three minutes left in the third.

Bedford wasn't done, as the Bulldogs closed the quarter by outscoring North 11-7 and getting the lead back down to 10 points heading into the fourth.

But the Titans never let it get any closer.

"They’re a resilient bunch," Lane said. "We’ve been rolling for a while. A major difference is our effort defensively. It shows up on a night like (Wednesday) and the defensive effort is the key."