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# Nashua South girls basketball pulls away late for win over Nashua North (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/nashua-south-girls-basketball-pulls-away-late-for-win-over-nashua-north-video/
- Published: 2026-01-31T18:00:06.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-31T18:00:06.000Z
- Description: NASHUA - The Nashua High School South girls basketball team needed one final run if it was going to pull out a win over Nashua North. The Panthers got it in a way they haven't often, at the free throw line. South made 10 of 12 free throws, including eight in a row at one point, over the final three
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, girls basketball, Nashua North, Nashua South, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

NASHUA - The Nashua High School South girls basketball team needed one final run if it was going to pull out a win over Nashua North.

The Panthers got it in a way they haven't often, at the free throw line.

South made 10 of 12 free throws, including eight in a row at one point, over the final three minutes while holding North to just two points over that same stretch to come back for a 50-40 win Friday over the Titans in the Battle of the Bridge.

The Panthers scored 11 of their 14 points in the fourth quarter at the line, going 13 of 20 overall, to overcome a shaky start and pick up their ninth Division I win (9-1), the first time the program has reached that mark in over 15 years.

“We worked on being the more disciplined team because we haven’t been in past games,” South coach John Bourgeois said. “They locked in and they closed out the game.”

Nicole De Jesus led South with 18 points and Anya Challinger came off the bench to finish with 13 points, seven of which came during a key stretch at the end of the third quarter that gave the Panthers the lead for good.

Addie Borden had all six of her points in the fourth quarter, as she joined De Jesus, Challinger, Lexi McGuire and Maggie Gallagher to make foul shots down the stretch.

“We changed so much in the last couple of weeks with our routines at practice on how we shoot free throws,” Bourgeois said. “They’ve really bought into that new routine and I’m really proud of them.”

Alaina Small led North (6-3) with 17 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Lily Small was also in double figures with 13 points. But no one else had more than four points for the Titans, as they were in control early but started to struggle offensive in the second quarter.

“We had all the rhythm and then we got rushed and we took four or five rushed shots in the second quarter,” North coach Curt Dutilley said. “If you don’t recover from that mindset, then it’s not an efficient offense at that point.”

The Titans took a 9-2 lead early in the first quarter and were up 18-12 after one. A 3-pointer by Alaina Small extended that lead to 21-14 with just under six minutes left in the first half, but after that basket, North would go scoreless for more than four minutes.

Alaina Small broke the drought with a pair of free throws but De Jesus tied the game at 23 moments later with a 3-pointer. A free throw by Raegan Campbell gave the Titans a 24-23 lead going into halftime.

Despite the tough start, Bourgeois felt fine with how the Panthers were playing because they've often started off slow against the Titans.

“We knew in the first quarter it was going to be ugly, it was just, when is that going to settle down,” Bourgeois said. “We just had to wait for that moment and we had a lot of confidence at halftime that we could build momentum.”

South started, with De Jesus scoring to give the Panthers their first lead and then the senior added a pair of free throws to make it 27-24\. But North responded, going on a 7-0 run to take a 31-27 lead on a basket by Alaina Small with 2:44 left in the third.

De Jesus scored right away for the Panthers, and after the teams traded turnovers, Challinger hit a 3 and added a layup to put South up 34-31\. The sophomore scored again before the end of the quarter to put the Panthers up 36-32 going into the fourth.

Borden tacked on a 3-pointer and a free throw to open the final frame to make it a 13-1 run by the Panthers, giving them a 40-32 lead with just over six minutes remaining.

North wasn't done though, scoring six straight points to make it a two-point game. After Challinger hit two free throws to give South a 42-38 lead, Lily Small answered with a basket to get it back to a two-point game with 2:17 to play.

But the Titans wouldn't score again, and the Panthers closed the game out at the line.

“It’s a tremendous learning experience,” Dutilley said. “It’s a great crowd, big game. We’ve got two freshmen and two sophomores out there who now know what a playoff game feels like. There are things that we’ll definitely clean up and we’ll get better at.”