Nashua South's Vanessa Reeder (20) gets wrapped up by Alvirne's Paige Boudreau during Monday night's 47-41 Nashua South win at the Belanger Gym. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Round one goes to the Nashua High School South girls basketball team.

But there’s still Rounds Two and Three, and three is the most important one when it comes to a week’s worth of seeing the Broncos of Alvirne.

The Panthers held off the Broncos 47-41 on Monday night at the Belanger Gym, and the two teams see each other again on Friday. But you see, with the blind draw Divison I tourney pairings already out, the two teams know they’ll be back at South against each other next Tuesday night in a Region 4 play-in game.

In other words, the Panthers and Broncos will know each other on a first-name basis.

“I’m proud of them for sticking through it,” Nashua South coach John Bourgeois said, his team now 4-3 and right back at it at home tonight vs. Bishop Guertin. “They’re a tough Alvirne team, they’re aggressive, and energetic. … It should be an interesting first round game.

“It’s definitely not something we’re used to, but we just have to play our game and get better from the game before, as cliché as that sounds.”

Monday’s win came down to the Panthers, a senior team, being clutch from the foul line down the stretch. They had a 38-25 lead entering the final period, and led 40-29 before the Broncos, paced by slashing guard Jamie O’Connor (game high 21 points), cut the margin to 40-37 with 2:11 left. But the Panthers were able to hold on because they hit seven of eight free throws down the stretch, five by Aryanna Murray, who had a game-high 18 points, 12 in the second half, seven in the final quarter.

“She had a great game,” Bourgeois said. “She stepped up on both ends of the floor, and yeah, those free throws are clutch.”

“He’s got a veteran team,” Alvirne coach Frank Girginis said, his team now 6-6. “They have a lot of experience, and I think you saw that in the fourth quarter. In that crunch, it’s free throws and layups, and we were 6 for 13 (from the line in the fourth period) when we were trying to close the gap, leaving points on the board. And they were 6 for 6.

“We held them to one field goal the entire fourth quarter. But they’re a veteran team, and they hit their free throws.”

Maya Rioux added 12 and Iruka Obinelo nine points for the Panthers, while Paige McKinley added nine for the Broncos.

Nashua was down 9-7 early, but led 12-9 after one and never lost the lead, which grew to 23-18 at the half and as many as 13 in the second half.

“Ball movement and moving off the ball in our offense,” Bourgeois said is how his team did it. “Just playing smart basketball.”

O’Connor was a sparkplug.

“They’re a great group,” Girginis said. “We’re learning how to win. Today we started four sophomores and one freshman.”

And they’ll see the South seniors again. For Alvirne, Friday’s game is about finishing with a winning record for the first time in five years. “We’ll have fun,” Girginis said.

“You always want to see a team before you play them in the playoffs,” Bourgeois said.

The Broncos and Panthers are doing that and more.

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