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North storms past Alvirne into all-Nashua Chick-Fil-A Holiday Tournament final

By Staff | Dec 31, 2014

NASHUA – Steve Lane told his Nashua High School North boys basketball team the third quarter was going to be key in its game Tuesday against Alvirne.

Sure enough, the Broncos stormed out of the locker room and cut the Titans’ 13-point lead down to two.

But North responded, going on an 8-0 run to go back up by double digits and held on for a 62-47 win over Alvirne in the semifinals of the Chick-Fil-A Holiday Tournament at Nashua South.

The win sets up an all-Gate City final for the first time since 2011, as the Titans will face South at 2 p.m. on Wednesday in the championship game. Alvirne will play Goffstown, which lost to South 80-57 in the other semifinal, in the third-place game at 12 p.m.

Nate Hale led the way for North with 24 points while Brandon Rodriguez and Brennan Kastens added 10 points apiece. All three were in double figures for the second straight game, giving the Titans some scoring options they haven’t had in recent years.

“This team is a little different than others we’ve had, where there was one guy doing the scoring,” Lane said. “We now have options to go to, we have good balance scoring.”

Connor Hodsdon had 12 points for Alvirne, but was the only Bronco in double figures. Evan Hunt chipped in with seven and George Notini and Sam Bonney-Liles had six each.

The Broncos struggled to score in the first quarter, falling behind 8-2 early and they trailed by nine going into the second.

“Our offense never really got into a rhythm,” Alvirne coach Brian Lynch said. “The first half, we were walking it up the floor and were very stagnant. We didn’t get good looks. Third quarter, the intensity was better and we got things going.”

Alvirne used that intensity to go on a 14-2 run to cut the North lead to 35-33 and the teams traded baskets to give the Titans a 37-35 lead with 1:50 to go in the quarter. The Broncos had chances to tie or take the lead, but couldn’t, and Hale hit a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left to put North up 40-35 going into the fourth.

“I told them at halftime, the first two minutes of the third quarter were going to make or break us,” Lane said. “But the kids responded and got going (in the fourth).”

The Titans pushed the lead back to 10 points early in the fourth thanks in part to four free throws by Hale. But a 3-pointer by Bonney-Liles made it a 48-40 lead for North and seemed to put some life back into Alvirne.

But it didn’t last. North answered with a putback by Rodriguez, starting an 11-2 run that ended with a 3-pointer by Brendan Barrett that put the Titans up 59-42 with 2:37 remaining.

Now North will try to snap South’s championship streak. The Panthers have won three titles in a row, starting with a win over the Titans in that 2011 final, Lane’s first season as the North coach.

“When you’re putting this tournament together, this is what you want, sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t,” he said. “We know each other pretty well and we play a lot together (with South). We’ll go out and compete.”

at Nashua

ALVIRNE (47)

Connor Hodsdon 6-1-14, Evan Hunt 3-1-7, George Notini 2-4-6, Sam Bonney-Liles 2-0-6, Andrew Wetmore 1-2-4, Dan Tucci 1-0-3, Rob Bolduc 0-2-2, Tyler Janko 1-0-2, Brett Richardson 0-1-1. Totals: 16-11-47.

NASHUA NORTH (62)

Nate Hale 8-4-24, Brandon Rodriguez 3-4-10, Brendan Barrett 3-1-10, Brennan Kastens 2-2-6, Ronnie Silva 1-2-5, Jefry Almonte 0-4-4, Richard Constant 1-0-3, AJ Jones 0-1-1. Totals: 20-18-62.

Alvirne 9 10 16 12 – 47

North 18 14 8 22 – 62

3-pointers: A-Bonney-Liles 2, Hodsdon, Tucci; NN-Hale 4, Barrett 3, Constant, Silva. Next game: North will play South at 2 p.m. Alvirne takes on Goffstown at 12:30 p.m.

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