Nashua South boys basketball gets improbable win over Alvirne

NASHUA - The Nashua High School South boys basketball team had the lead for just three seconds Tuesday night against Alvirne.

Fortunately for the Panthers, it was the three seconds of the game that mattered the most.

DJ Frechette was fouled after stealing an inbound pass and made two free throws with three seconds remaining to give South a 59-58 win over Alvirne.

After catching the ball, Frechette was hauled to the ground by Alvirne's Andrew Wetmore and the officials huddled briefly to determine the severity of the foul. They deemed it intentional, and after Frechette made both free throws, South got the ball back up one with three seconds left and Alvirne still with two fouls to give.

Time ran out before Alvirne could get to seven fouls and send the Panthers to the line for a one-and-one.

"I've been around too long and been on the good side and the bad side of calls like that," South coach Nate Mazerolle said. "I don't know if it was the right call or not, I'm not worried about that. We made a play and made two tough free throws. It was a tough situation, sure, and I wouldn't want to be on the other end, and I've been there before."

Frechette, a sophomore, scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the second half, including two free throws with three seconds left, and fellow sophomore Kevin Genoa, who had 14 points, kept South (9-5) in the game with a no-look pass to a wide-open Malika Langa for any easy layup with 36 seconds left before hitting a 3 that made it 58-57 with 15.8 seconds to play.

"Sophomore guards, they're just tough kids and they both want the ball," Mazerolle said. "We never make it easy. My beard had no gray hairs before the season started.

"We are starting to show that we're tested and I like that. We started three sophomores and another one comes off the bench. If we can be tested and win games in crunch time like that, that's very encouraging."

Alvirne (9-4) got 17 points from Evan Hunt and Connor Hodsdon was also in double figures with 10, but the Broncos struggled from the field in the first half, missing a handful of layups. Fortunately for Alvirne, South struggled against the Broncos' defense, as Frechette and Mike Osgood, the Panthers top scorers, combined for four points in the first half.

"Our goal was to shut down Frechette and Osgood," Alvirne coach Brian Lynch said. "I have to give a lot of credit to Evan Hunt and Tyler Jenko, holding (Osgood) to two points. Frechette had to work every single basket he got (Tuesday). As far as doing what we set out to do, I think we did. We were in a good position to win at the end but there were a couple of turnovers and we didn't get rebounds there. That did us in."

South tied the game 3-3 with 1:48 gone in the first quarter, and tied it again at the end of the third, 38-38, but trailed the rest of the way. Alvirne went up 22-18 at halftime and went on a 13-6 run to go up 35-24 with 4:15 left in the third quarter. But South responded by closing out the quarter on a 14-3 run, despite some confusion among the officials.

The Panthers were called for their seventh team foul of the half with 41 seconds left in the third, but the Broncos were given possession instead of shooting a one-and-one. Alvirne turned the ball over but after South put the ball back in play and brought it down the floor, the officials stopped play and sent the Broncos back to the free throw line. Wetmore missed the free throw and Langa scored at the other end to tie the game at 38 going into the fourth.

Alvirne scored the first six points of the quarter and maintained a two-possession lead until the final minute of the game, when Langa’s basket off the assist by Genoa made it a 56-54 game.

Hunt made two free throws at the other end to up Alvirne up 58-54 with 28.6 left to play. Genoa got an open look at the basket, but missed a layup and the rebound went out of bounds off Alvirne. Given a second chance, Genoa hit a 3-pointer that pulled South within one.

Osgood then stole the ball from the Broncos and found Langa going to the basket all alone, but the senior missed the layup. A jump ball was called on the rebound and with 7.7 seconds left, South looked to foul.

Instead, Frechette ended up with the ball inside halfcourt before being taken down by Wetmore.

"This game hurts and it stings and the kids are upset, but it isn't playoff time right now," Lynch said. "The season is far from over and we still have a lot games. This was a good experience for us. We've had a lot of close games like this, which is good for our kids, because we're comfortable playing under pressure. Unfortunately, this one went the way it did."