Start of second half the difference as Nashua North boys basketball beats Timberlane

NASHUA - The boys basketball teams from Timberlane Regional and Nashua North high schools traded runs for about 27 minutes Wednesday night.

It was the five minutes at the start of the third quarter that ended up being the difference in the game.

The Titans opened the second half with a 14-2 run that gave them their largest lead of the night, and despite the Owls cutting that lead down to as little as six points in the fourth quarter, North was able to hang on for a 62-53 win in a Division I contest.

Sophomore Trevor Labrecque led the way for the Titans (8-1) with 19 points, including two 3-pointers to open the third quarter while going 6 for 6 from the free throw line in the fourth. Sam McElliott added 14 points for North and sophomore Jayden Montgomery was also in double figures with 11.

Titans coach Steve Lane felt that Labrecque, who was recently added to the starting lineup, and Montgomery helped give North the extra boost it needed.

"He’s starting to feel comfortable," Lane said of Labrecque. "I’ve got him in a starting role recently and he hasn’t missed a beat. He is a good facilitator and a creator for others. He’s a really good shooter."

Ashton Ventola scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter for Timberlane (3-6), including all three of his 3-pointers. Luke Surprenant added 12 points for the Owls, including two 3s, as the team finished with eight baskets from behind the arc.

But the stretch to start the third quarter put Timberlane in a hole it couldn't escape.

"At the start of the third quarter, we came out in that zone, which we haven’t done a lot this year," Timberlane coach Jeff Baumann said. "I thought we were more flat in it, not a lot of energy, and then they got going when we went back to man. We locked in more defensively and that allowed us to get a couple of shots and a couple of stops."

North had a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Timberlane opened the second with a 6-0 run, scoring all six points at the free throw line to tie the game. The Titans answered with a 9-2 run to go up 24-17, but 3 by Matthew Einarson to end the first half helped get the Owls within four, 26-22.

On the first possession of the third, Curtis Harris-Lopez (nine points) missed a 3-pointer but Jayden Espinal got the rebound and the Titans worked the ball around until it came to Labrecque, who drilled an open 3. After a layup by Einarson, Labrecque hit another from long range and a jumper by Espinal made it 34-24 and forced Baumann to take a timeout.

But North kept rolling after the break, getting baskets from Harris-Lopez, Montgomery and McElliott to extend the lead to 16 points, 40-24, with 2:53 to go in the third.

Baumann took another time out, and this time, the Owls responded, scoring seven straight to get within nine points early in the fourth. But every time Timberlane would get within striking distance, North would go back up by a dozen, as the Titans led 48-36 after a steal and layup by Montgomery with 4:39 to play.

"Their athleticism was a bigger advantage than our size," Baumann said. "I don’t know if we utilized our size the way we would like to. That’s the advantage maybe of playing teams twice. They do a good job of masking for a lack of size. Those athletes are quick and they get in passing lanes."

Timberlane was able to cut the lead in half, getting a quick 6-0 to make it 48-42 on a basket by Ethan Stewart with 3:31 to play. The Owls weren't able to get any closer, as Labrecque answered that score with a layup and McElliott scored to give the Titans a 10-point lead.

"They are pretty tough to shake," Lane said. "They’ve got size and length, they made enough shots to really create some problems for us. They create some mismatches. I didn’t think we were terrible on the defensive end, but it wasn’t one of our better games on that side.

"They play everybody tough and they’re going to be even tougher on Friday when we go to play there."

The teams will meet again at 6 p.m. Friday in Plaistow.