Three-point barrage helps Windham boys basketball top Nashua South (video)

WINDHAM - The Windham High School boys basketball team didn't hit all of its 3-point attempts Friday night against Nashua South.

It just felt like it.

The Jaguars hit 13 shots from behind the arc, 10 in the second half, as they snapped a two-game slide by holding off the Panthers with a long-range barrage to claim a 74-60 win over South in a Division I game.

Brandon Jacobs led the way with 22 points, including five 3s, and Tyler Jordan added four 3s and finished with 18 points for Windham (5-3), which was coming off back-to-back road losses to Exeter and Goffstown.

“We were on a two-game skid, so it was all about doing the things in practice that are going to equal winning,” Windham coach Carson Desrosiers said. “I think overall we played with some happiness (Friday), with some joy, and that’s what we were all about in practice to lead up to this win.”

Sam Roidoulis added nine points for the Jaguars while Neil Finneran (two), Jack Steffanides and Matthew Hennessey also added 3-pointers.

“In practice, we shoot all the time, we’re getting up hundreds of shots,” Jacobs said. “When you’ve got people that can shoot, you know, you can’t really help (on defense), because if you leave, it’s going to someone open on the other side.”

That was the case against South (3-4), with Windham moving the ball early on against the Panthers' defense to find the open man. When South upped its pressure in the second half, the Jaguars struggled with it at times, but when they were able to beat the press, it lead to another 3.

“Our press worked on occasion, but then when they started to break it, we needed to stay in it because we got down,” South coach Nate Mazerolle said. “They just kept moving the ball very well and hitting really good 3s. Lots of them.”

Shane Lemire had 17 points, with two 3s, to lead South while Francisco Rodriguez-Malagon had 12 points and Rigo Challinger added 11 points.

Windham got solid defense from Roidoulis to hold South's Daniel Karavanic to just one point in the first half. When Roidoulis got in foul trouble in the second quarter, Jacobs took on his assignment and didn't miss a beat.

“He’s a problem for a lot of teams defensively,” Desrosiers said. “I thought we were pretty locked in with the scout and credit to those guys for showing up defensively.”

The Jaguars took a 29-23 lead into halftime and doubled the lead on 3s by Jacobs and Steffanides just 91  seconds into the third.

After a timeout, the Panthers answered with an 8-0 run to get within four points, 35-31, but Hennessey stopped the run with a basket and Jacobs followed with two 3s. Even though both were quickly followed by South baskets, Windham led 43-35 with just over three minutes to go in the quarter.

The Panthers got the lead back down to five, but Jordan hit two 3s in the final 70 seconds of the third to help give the Jaguars a 51-42 lead going into the fourth.

“We had some timely 3s,” Desrosiers said. “Ideally, you put a team away with a 10-point lead in the second half. Credit to them for making it into a game. They didn’t roll over, they didn’t quit. It just seemed like whenever we needed a shot or two, we were hitting a timely 3 and we’d get a stop and go score again.”

South scored on its first three possessions of the fourth, but two more 3s by Jordan and Hennessey in between kept it a nine-point Windham lead.

The Panthers kept scoring, getting within five points, 57-52, with 5:14 left, but after a timeout, Jacobs and Finneran each hit a 3 to keep the Jaguars ahead before they put the game away from the free throw line late.