Bishop Guertin's Tyler Mackey drives on Nashua South's Alex Hulfachor duirng Monday night's 59-58 Panthers win at the Colligadome. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Beware of a Panthers team with a plan. Or make that a new offense.

Just before Christmas, Nashua High School South boys basketball coach Nate Mazerolle asked his players after a nine point second half vs. Alvirne if they liked the offense the team was running.

The answer came back a huge no, and the Panthers had a new gift under the tree when they got back at it, a new offense that produced 72 points vs. Spaulding last week and helped them escape with a 59-58 comeback win over Bishop Guertin on Monday night.

“It’s very much a work in progress,” Mazerolle said. “The kids have bought in. We’re spacing the floor. It’s not rocket science.”

But the loss for BG may have come down to science – how a round ball couldn’t fit into a cylinder for most of the fourth quarter after the Cards had built up a 47-37 lead, leading 47-43 after three – especially at the end, when potential game-winning shot attempts by Matt Santosuosso and Brad Matarazzo went in and out just before the buzzer sounded.

The Cards had a lot of good looks in the final period,but the ball just wouldn’t fall.

“And we spent a ton of time shooting last week,” said Guertin coach John Fisher, his Cardinals now 4-2. “Hours and hours. We had great practices. We practiced two hours a day, other than the day we had a game (at Andover).

“They came to play. Those guys absolutely came to play, and we did not play well. We have to go back to the drawing board and figure out a few things. But I don’t know how to get better shots.”

South was led by its Fearless Freshmen combo – Josh Caruso with 15 points and Alize Roig-Cortes with 14. Caruso hit a big 3-pointer and then a layp to turn a five-point deficit into a tie game at 54 with 3:48 left. Karsten Lemire hit a trey to give the Panthers the lead for good, 57-54, but Cortes, with more spacing, hit a runner down the lane with 1:18 left that put the Panthers up three again, 59-56.

“That hoop was huge,” Mazerolle said of Cortes’ bucket.”He’s tough, he’s fearless, he gets after it defensively. I look forward to the next four years – next four-and-a-half and five weeks, too.”

Guertin was paced by Santosuosso (16 points) and Luke Anderson (game-high 18), but the pair combined for only five points in the fourth quarter. South got 10 each from big man Rhett Medling and Lemire. Medling’s insertion into the game late in the third helped ignite South’s comeback as Guertin was getting too many good looks for Mazerolle’s liking.

“It did, just his (6-8) size ,” Mazerolle said. “I’m afraid to know the numbers but we got anilhilated on the glass. He changed that a little bit. A couple big hoops, couple nice passes, and he keeps his poise. Senior leaders, that’s what he and Alex (Hulfachor) do for us.”

“It’s huge, it’s absolutely huge,” Hulfachor said of the win. “Last two games we’ve really turned it on. We put in a new offense, and we’ve been practicing harder … Our toughness showed up tonight.”

Indeed, in the past the Panthers, who lost twice to BG on this floor a year ago, including in the opening round of the tournament, might have faded away down 10.

Or, one of those BG shots might have fallen in the final seconds, as Mazerolle and his bench’s collective heart must’ve skipped a beat.

“To answer your question, it was ‘Here we go again,'” Mazrolle said he was thinking.

Not this time. New offense, new result.