Telegraph photo by TOM KING Nashua North's Brenden Choate's long arm carries the basketnball to the hoop over Portsmouth's Calvin Hewett during the Clippers' 63-57 win Tuesday night at Titans Gym.

NASHUA – It was a lesson learned for the Nashua High School North boys basketball team on Tuesday night.

Actually, a couple of them after Portsmouth came to town and left with a 63-57 win.

“Good teams who make shots and execute are going to beat you,” North coach Steve Lane said. “Tonight was a prime example of it.”

Lesson No. 2: One game doesn’t translate to the next. Friday night the now 11-4 Titans looked like world beaters in a 24-point win over Winnacunnet. Not so last night.

“I told them you’ve got to be ready to play ever night,” Lane said. “Every night is going to be a battle, especially against a team that’s as good as Portsmouth.”

And anyone at Titans Gym last night found out just how good Portsmouth is, worthy of a 13-2 mark that is blemished by 10-point losses to top-ranked Exeter and defensive minded Merrimack. Clippers coach John Mulvey has a good squad that can move the ball around and shoot like crazy, and it would be tough to bet against the Clippers, their dynamic point guard Calvin Hewett and sharpshooter Coleman Brewster (game-high 26 points) nearly a month from now.

“That was a huge win for us, the best win of the season,” Mulvey said. “The way we played here, I like our chances. We’re a tough team that’s trying to get better every single day.”

They looked pretty good last night, surviving an up and down first quarter that ended with North up 24-23 thanks to a Brenden Choate (17 points) long range buzzer beater.

But the Titans, who were led by Curtis Harris’ 23 point effort, could not keep the Clippers from hitting open jumpers outside and finding a few layups inside. The Clips took a 37-33 lead into the half and then turned a three-point lead into a 49-36 advantage with 10 straight points, including a killer trey by Kevin Cummings, who had 14 points.

Cummings hit another big 3-pointer that gave Portsmouth a 52-44 lead with just under five minutes to go after North had begun a run while trailing 49-40 after three. Whenever the Clippers needed a big hoop, they got one.

“Yeah we did,” Mulvey said. “We run a lot of set plays, we run a lot of them for Brewster, he hits tough shots, Kevin Cummings hits tough shots, ones that step up and hit big shots.”

The Titans hung around, as a Choate trey got them to within five with 41 seconds left. But Hewett finished them with a dagger of a layup that put things away with 18.8 ticks to go.

“They execute well, they have a great leader in Hewitt, who does a nice job of running their show,” Lane said. “And when Brewster hits shots, they’re pretty tough to beat.”

Mulvey says practice makes perfect, as one can tell with their precise passing.

“Practices are fun, we spend a lot of time on it,” Mulvey said. “The guys work really hard, we do it every single day. It pays off in big games like this.”

“They’re good. They make shots, they’re solid on defense,” Lane said. “And I think it was maybe them wanting it a touch more than we did tonight.”

That may be the biggest lesson of all for the Titans.

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