Trinity holds off Nashua South to advance to D1 boys basketball final

Mabor Gabriel scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, including 12 on the offensive glass, to lead the Trinity High School boys basketball team to a 60-58 win Tuesday over Nashua South in the Division I boys basketball semifinals.

Carmen Giampetruzzi added 17 points and 10 boards, as the No. 1 Pioneers (20-1) got out to an early lead and held on at the end, despite a furious second-half comeback by the No. 4 Panthers (16-5). South led, 51-48, with 5:24 left and the game was tied at 53 with 3:21 to play, and while neither team shot well from the free throw line down the stretch, Trinity was good enough to close out the win.

Trinity was 5 of 13 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, but got two big ones from Giampetruzzi with 1:20 left to stretch a one-point lead to three. South was 3 of 9 from the line in the final eight minutes, and just 2 of 6 in the final 17 seconds after twice getting fouled on 3-point attempts.

Tim Preston led the Panthers with 22 points while David Dunham had eight points and eight boards. But South was outrebounded 39-28 and outscored at the line, 19-7.

Trinity will now face No. 7 Bishop Guertin in the Division I championship game on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the University of New Hampshire.

Here's more on Tuesday night's semifinal game:

• Trinity will get another shot at Cards - Union Leader
• Division I semifinal coverage - New Hampshire Sports Page
• Trinity snags last-minute win over South - Nashua Telegraph
• Gabriel and Giampetruzzi lead Trinity back to final - New Hampshire Notebook