Nashua South's Julianna Martin goes up for two against Alvirne's Lyla Davis during the Panthers' 38-24 Divison I play-in game win at the Belanger Gym Tuesday night. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – How do you beat a team three times in a week, let alone in a season?

With experience, that’s how.

When you look at that factor, Tuesday night’s Division I Region Four play-in game between the Nashua High School girls basketball team and local rival Alvirne was an age mismatch.

And in a postseason meeting, it’s usually age before beauty, as the Panthers showed in prevailing 38-24.

It was seniors over sophomores.

“I’m really happy for them,” Panthers coach John Bourgeois said of his seniors, who played their final game at the Belanger. “They’ve been working with each other for four years, and it showed in a playoff game like tonight.”

Now they go from the frying pan into the fire, facing unbeaten Bishop Guertin in the prelims at the Colligadome Friday night.

But first they’ll celebrate this one. The Panthers, who beat Alvirne by six and eight points last week, basically led throughout. They used a 9-0 run keyed by Maya Rioux and Aryanna Murray to grab a 15-4 lead in the second quarter, and led 17-8 at the half.

Then, after sitting out most of the first half in foul trouble, Iruka Obinelo came alive with nine of her 11 team-high points in the second half. She hit key hoops and free throws late in the third and early in the fourth as the Panthers expanded the lead to 28-17 after three and 32-17 early in the fourth.

“We just had to keep our mindset and everything, especially playing a team three times,” Obinelo said. “We just had to stay focused, and keep playing our game.”

The Broncos, who were just 5 of 19 from the foul line, simply couldn’t generate enough offense to make the third time seeing South the charm.

“We started four sophomores and a freshman today,” Alvirne coach Frank Girginis said. “I didn’t give them the excuse of youth at all this year. Now that the season’s over, I’m sure basketball eyes are going well, when you go up against a veteran team like Nashua South, seniors in their last hurrah, they kicked their little sister off the court.

“And that’s just what happened. We just couldn’t seemed to respond.”

Rioux added 10 points and Murray eight for the Panthers, while the Broncos didn’t have a double figure scorer, led by Jaime O’Connor’s seven points and five each from Alyssa Scharn and Rachel Allard.

The 6-4 Panthers this year have made progressions that the scrappy 5-7 Broncos will no doubt make in the next two years. They played BG tough in the first half of a 49-32 loss last week. It will be seniors vs. sophomores again, but this is a different deal as the Cards have sophomores who play like seniors.

“Getting a win (in the tourney) last year helped us a lot with our confidence, that we can get a win in the playoffs,” Bourgeois said. “Now we’re ready to go play BG. We played well against them, but it’s going to be tough in their gym. It’s a smaller court, they like to pressure, they’re a great, talented team.

“It’ll be a challenge, but a challenge we definitely want.”

“We worked hard that game,” Obinelo said. “We’re excited to go back and work hard again.”

Because that’s what seniors do.

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