Exeter boys basketball able to hold off Nashua South

NASHUA – The Exeter High School boys basketball team has been looking for a signature win.

After withstanding everything Nashua South threw at the Blue Hawks on Friday, they’ve got one.

Zack Holler scored 18 of his 28 points in the second and Exeter closed the game on an 11-5 run to defeat the Panthers 75-69 in a Division I game. The Blue Hawks led by as many as 14 points in the second half, but were able to pull out just second win in the last seven games thanks in part to Holler.

The guard made three of his team’s nine 3-pointers and seemed to come up with big baskets whenever the Blue Hawks (6-8) needed them.

“He’s the guy who makes us go,” Exeter coach Jeff Holmes said. “We struggled when Zack Holler had mono and now he’s back in the swing of things. . He can make things happen, he’s good around the basket and he’s quicker than people think.”

Jordan Dickenson added 16 points, including four 3s, and Max Medley had 12 points for Exeter. South (8-5) got 28 points from Yordy Tavarez while Mike Osgood had 16 points and Vinny Ortolano added 11.

The Panthers got off to slow start, a trend that has existed all year and was exacerbated by the fact that there was no school in Nashua on Friday.

“We have a habit of coming out flat,” South coach Nate Mazerolle said. “We hate to use excuses, but high school kids are creatures of habit. The last two days, being off and not having a practice, I think that fed into why we were flat early. If we want to be as good as we think we are, you overcome that, and we didn’t.”

South struggled to make shots in the first quarter and trailed 15-9 after one quarter. Exeter pushed the lead to as many as 10 points in the first half and led by eight, 37-29, at halftime.

The Panthers opened the second half with a 14-8 run, cutting the lead to 45-43 on a 3-pointer by Ortolano with 4:30 left in the quarter. Exeter answered right away on a 3 and then a layup from Dickenson. Holler followed with two layups sandwiched around a 3 by Bryant Holmes, and in two minutes, Exeter had its lead up to 12 at 55-43.

“Defensively, that’s as bad as we’ve played,” Mazerolle said. “To give up 75 points in our gym, that is inexcusable. For a team that is pretty athletic, we got beaten over the top far too many times, either for a layup or for a kick-out 3s. We gave up nine 3s. That’s a lot and we can’t allow that to happen.”

Another 3 by Dickenson put Exeter up 63-49 with 5:23 to play, but Tavarez answered right back with a 3 of his own. Then, on the Blue Hawks’ next possession, Dickenson was called for an intentional offensive foul when his elbow caught Tavarez, knocking him down. The South senior made both free throws and on the ensuing possession, Cam Joyal scored off an offensive rebound.

After an Exeter miss, Tavarez got the rebound of his own miss and put it back to cut the lead to 63-58. The teams traded a free throw and Tavarez hit another 3 to make it a two-point game before an Exeter turnover led to a layup by Osgood.

Exeter lost control of the inbounds pass and Osgood scooped it up to give South a chance to take its first lead, but the Panthers lost control of the ball and it went out of bounds. The Blue Hawks scored the next five points to pull back ahead, 69-64.

“That may have been enough of a turning point to get over the hump, but I don’t know,” Mazerolle said of the possession after Osgood’s tying basket.

Holmes was pleased to see his players not cave whenever South got back into the game.

“Basketball is a game of runs and they are a good team,” he said. “There is no way we’re going to hold Tavarez to three points. He’s going to get a quick eight here and there, so it was good for us to not fall apart.”