Nashua South gets up early, holds on against Nashua North to win Nashua Holiday Basketball Tournament (video)

NASHUA – The Nashua High School South girls basketball team had been waiting for the outside shots to start falling.

When they finally did, it couldn’t have happened at a better time for the Panthers.

South made 11 3-pointers Thursday night, and combined with its pressure defense that held Nashua North in check most of the day, the Panthers were able to cruise to a 58-23 win over the Titans in the girls championship game at the Nashua Holiday Basketball Tournament at North.

Karina O’Donnell, Koharu Tanaka and Amber Wong each had 11 points for South, with Tanaka and Wong each making three 3s and O’Donnell adding two.

“We had a couple of games where we couldn’t buy one, so it was good to see them get some of those and get some confidence,” South coach John Bourgeois said. “They are good shooters on this team, we just needed to see them go in.

“The most important thing to see was that they just played together. Everyone contributed, everyone has a piece of this team, and it’s been a lot of fun for us.”

South also got 3-pointers from Jaynilies De Jesus (seven points), Nitzann Alkalay (five) and Morgan Gillis (three), as the Panthers jumped out to a 15-4 lead after one quarter. The lead grew to 30-13 at halftime as North turned the ball over a dozen times in the first 16 minutes.

The Titans were playing without senior point guard Summer St. Pierre, and despite knowing they were going to see the Panthers’ press, struggled to execute against it.

“That’s the style they have to play and we just put the ball on the floor too many times,” North coach Curt Dutilley said. “We’d catch the ball, dribble immediately, and that’s what we talked about pregame.

“You know the trap is coming, the second person is coming, get your head up, see if the next pass is available. We get caught standing around and not rotating and helping the people with the ball. We know what we want to do, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to do it right.”

North got eight points from freshman Lillian Small while Angela King added seven points.

Up 17 points at halftime, South continued to add to its lead in the third, using a 16-0 run to extend the lead to 31 points going into the fourth quarter.

“I think we took a step forward,” Bourgeois said. “We were just focused on the details of our defense and offense the last two days. They played better than they did (Wednesday) and that’s what we were looking for. Whether we win or lose, we’re looking for improvement. They did it together.”