Nashua North boys basketball ends slide with win over Nashua South

NASHUA – After getting off to a 4-0 start to the season, the Nashua High School North boys basketball team had been in a tailspin since losing a decision to rival Nashua South in the championship game of the Nashua Holiday Tournament.

The Titans lost all four of their games when it returned back to its Division I schedule in 2024 and was in desperate need to turn things around when South once again came into North’s gymnasium for Friday night’s Battle of the Bridge.

It was only appropriate that the Titans would end their losing skid against the team that started it.

Junior Parth Miglani drained five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 26 points, while classmate Alize Roig Cortes added 21 to lead North to a 67-58 Division I victory. The Titans improved to 5-4, while South dropped to 6-3.

“South is going to survive because they already have six wins by this point, so we just needed this win a little bit more,” North coach Steve Lane said. “Any win in Division I is good. But for the rivalry and this atmosphere it’s great for the kids.”

North dropped its four games coming out of the holiday tournament only by an average of 4.5 points a game, which included Wednesday’s 55-54 loss to Keene.

“This one feels great,” Miglani said. “We know how good we are, but as a new team, we’re learning how to play with each other with our pace and energy. This starts at practice every day. We’re just going over what we do wrong every game and we’re just getting better every time.”

The focal point of North’s defense was slowing down South’s scoring duo of Josh Caruso (25.2 points per game) and Zach Castonguay (19.3) and the mission was accomplished. Caruso was limited to 12 points, while Castonguay had to work hard to get his 23 points.

Caruso was held scoreless though a first quarter that saw North leading 20-14, but he netted 10 points in an 18-8 second quarter for the Panthers that gave South a 32-28 halftime lead. Caruso was limited to a pair of free throws in the second half.

“They are dynamite basketball players and you had to be conscience of where they were at all times,” Lane said. “We made sure we challenged every shot and made it difficult as we could for them. We did that in the second half."

Miglani poured in a 3-pointer to give North the lead for good as part of a 13-4 run that was capped off by a Roig Cortes putback to give North a 41-36 lead, which was trimmed to 45-42 entering the fourth.

The momentum took a big swing North’s way early in the fourth when Robinson Rodriguez (12 points) provided the play of the game. With his team up 48-45, Rodriguez blocked a shot at the rim, ran down the court and finished off a transition pass from Roig Cortes.

A Roig Cortes’ 3-pointer bumped North's lead to 53-45 with five minutes remaining and after South closed to within 53-51, Rodriguez grabbed and offensive rebound and found Jaden Pena for a hoop. Miglani added a 3 to give North a 61-55 lead with 1:43 left in regulation.

“We win games when we make plays, we’re not quite there when we have to rely on what we’re trying to execute,” South coach Nate Mazerolle said. “In the fourth quarter especially, that really hurt us. We had some key breakdowns. It was them working harder than we did and them making a play when we didn’t.”