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# Nashua South boys basketball does enough to pull out D1 playoff win over Merrimack
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/nashua-south-boys-basketball-does-enough-to-pull-out-d1-playoff-win-over-merrimack/
- Published: 2025-03-06T12:00:56.000Z
- Updated: 2025-03-06T12:00:56.000Z
- Description: NASHUA - Once the playoffs start, there's really only one goal for every team involved: survive and advance. Every time Wednesday night it looked like the Nashua High School South boys basketball team did just that, Merrimack put the Panthers right back into survival mode. In the final minutes, No.
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, boys basketball, Merrimack, Nashua South, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

NASHUA - Once the playoffs start, there's really only one goal for every team involved: survive and advance.

Every time Wednesday night it looked like the Nashua High School South boys basketball team did just that, Merrimack put the Panthers right back into survival mode.

In the final minutes, No. 4 South ate enough clock and made enough free throws to outlast No. 13 Merrimack for a 55-49 win in a Division I preliminary-round game at the Belanger Gymnasium. The win means the Panthers will be back home for the quarterfinals Saturday, when they'll host No. 5 Exeter, which defeated No. 12 Goffstown.

"We’ve had a lot of tough games," South coach Nate Mazerolle said. "It wasn’t our first time and we didn’t wilt under the bright lights. There were some mistakes, and that’s going to happen, but you hear it all the time, survive and advance. That was pure survival."

South (15-4) had only been held under 60 points once during the regular season, back on Jan. 7, and with the Panthers having just 28 points on the board at halftime, Merrimack coach Austin Denton would have thought his team would be in great shape.

Instead, the Tomahawks (8-11) struggled to score in the second quarter, getting outscored 18-8 to trail 28-19 at halftime.

"I’m happy with how our guys played," Denton said. "It was just that second quarter. If we can just keep scoring, we’ll be OK, and we didn’t. That’s what hurt us. I loved how the kids played. They were tough and aggressive."

That started on the defensive end and the job senior Mikey Flerra did defending South's Josh Caruso.

While Caruso was 7 of 7 at the free throw line in the first half, Flerra helped hold him scoreless from the field until the final two minutes of the half.

"He knew he was going to have a shadow all night long," Mazerolle said. "(Flerra) is a tough defender. We talked the last few days that we’ve got to be patient. We have other guys who can play basketball. It’s not as if anyone stood out, but everyone played their role."

Caruso ended up with a game-high 28 points, going 13 of 14 at the line, and Link Vanderhorst was also in double figures with 11 points while Josh Tripp added nine markers.

Noah Morrison scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half for Merrimack and Ryan Elliott added 10 points, but no one else had more than six for the Tomahawks.

Merrimack led throughout the first quarter, but Caruso gave South its first lead after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt to open the second. The lead went back and forth until the game was tied at 16, and from there, the Panthers took over.

South ended the half with a 12-3 run, getting points from four different players during that stretch, including two baskets by Tripp and Caruso's first field goals of the game.

Down nine points to start the second half, the Tomahawks were able to get within four points, but with under three minutes remaining in the third, it looked like the Panthers might finally pull away.

Vanderhorst was fouled on a make and missed the free throw, but South's Daniel Karavanic was there for the rebound. He tossed it back to Caruso, who was fouled on a made 3-pointer.

The senior added the free throw for a four-point play and a six-point possession for the Panthers that gave them a 38-26 lead. But the Tomahawks responded, getting a 3 and a buzzer-beating layup from Morrison to get within nine points going into the fourth.

The Merrimack senior opened the scoring in the final quarter to cut the South lead to 42-35, but with just over three minutes to go, the Panthers were back up by 10.

South tried to work the clock, but Merrimack started to chip away at the lead, going on a 6-1 run to get within 49-44 with 32 seconds remaining. The Tomahawks used a timeout then, and after the return to play, put Vanderhorst at the line.

The senior made both free throws to get the lead back to seven, and as Merrimack tried to bring the ball down the court, Caruso stole it and went in for a layup for a 53-44 lead with under 20 seconds to play.

"We knew he was going to score," Denton said of Caruso. "You’re not going to hold him to zero points. We had a great game plan. The kids knew exactly what to do and he was tough to guard. Last year, he was a little easier to guard. This year, he is unstoppable."