Nashua North girls basketball holds on for last-second win over Nashua South

NASHUA - Some times, all you have to do is kill a little bit of the clock.

With 12.6 seconds to play Arianna Motivala had already the front end of a one-and-one to give the Nashua High School North girls basketball team a one-point lead. Whether the junior made the second free throw or not, the Titans give Nashua South an easy path down the court with a chance to win the game.

After the Panthers called a timeout, Motivala missed the second free throw attempt, but the rebound bounced toward the sideline. South's Jasmine Sylvester tracked down the loose ball, but was immediately smothered by North's Alana Choate, who kept Sylvester pinned along the sideline long enough to force South to use another timeout.

Now with 5.3 seconds left, South's Aryanna Murray shot from just inside halfcourt was off the mark and the Titans held on for a 50-49 win over the Panthers in the teams' second meeting in two weeks. North also won 49-40 on Jan. 16.

"I said have confidence that Ari is going to make it, but we have to play for the miss," North coach Christina Bean said. "You have to be ready for the rebound. We were there right on them and it took seven seconds off the clock. Those seconds were huge. That’s where you win a game right there. Alana stepped in and took that spot. She’s athletic as can be. She might not get the rebound, but she’s going to put pressure on you."

North (5-5) put a lot of pressure on South (4-5) all night long, including forcing 11 turnovers in the second half. The Titans also got a balanced scoring attack, as Choate and Katie Carr each had 12 points and Motivala added eight, going 8 of 12 from the line.

Carr hit two free throws with 3:02 remaining that put North ahead 47-44, and after a South basket, hit a jumper from the wing that made it 49-46 with 2:20 to play. South's Maya Rioux tied the game at 49 with a 3-pointer with 1:16 to play, setting up the finish.

"Even if (Motivala) makes that second foul shot, it’s not the end of the world," South coach Dave Hogan said. "The biggest part was when we got the rebound, we didn’t make the quick pass and run. We got pinned, and this is the part, we’re still a team that’s inexperienced of making that decision, making that pass and running."

Sylvester led all scorers with 14 points, including two 3-pointers at the beginning of the third quarter, and Murray added 11 points.

Early on it looked like the Panthers might struggled to stay with the Titans, as North got out to a 17-8 lead early in the second quarter. But South answered with a 10-2 run that included 3s by Kendall Bush and Murray to pull within one point.

But then it was North's turn to respond, as the Titans finished the half with a 7-2 run of their own to take a 26-20 lead into halftime.

North stretched that lead to 32-25 but a 3 and a putback by Sylvester cut the lead to two, and after a free throw by Motivala, baskets by Murray and Amber Hedquist gave South a 34-33 lead, its first of the game.

The Titans took a 39-38 lead into the fourth, but the teams went back and forth throughout the quarter, with two lead changes and five ties in the final eight minutes.

"The offense wasn’t so great," Bean said. "They stepped up in the second half and we decided to play defense and we stopped them. We had a couple of crucial stops. We finally stopped Jasmine from shooting 3s. We pulled it out somehow.