Nashua South's Zac Castonguay tries to shoot over a block attempt by Manchester Memorial's Bory Bory (2) during Tuesday night's season opeer for both at the Belanger Gym. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – If you’re a little lax in paying your bills, you should take a cue from Nashua High School South senior Denis Wainaina.

Wainaina missed a dunk earlier in Tuesday night’s Panthers season opener vs. Manchester Memorial at the Belanger Gym.

Not only that, the Crusaders turned that into an easy bucket at the other end.

“That was a four-point swing,” South coach Nate Mazerolle said. “So I took him out and said ‘Hey, you missed a dunk, you owe us a play.’ There you go.”

Yes, very quickly paid in full, as Wainaina’s putback with 2.4 seconds left gave the Panthers a dramatic 57-56 win over the athletic Crusaders.

South, which trailed at halftime 32-29, went on a 9-0 run at the end of the third quarter to lead 48-42.

But, after the Crusaders’ Devin Lavallee missed the front end of a one-and-one, the Panthers found themselves with the ball trailing 56-55 with 20 seconds left.

After a time out, South sparkplug Zac Castonguay drove to the hoop but missed, but Wainaina snuck in and tipped it home as the clock ran out.

“I knew if he missed I was going to go up and put it up,” Wainaina said.

It’s hard tell what was more painful for Memorial coach Danny Bryson, that ending or the Achilles tear he suffered in practice a day or two earlier.

“We missed the one-and-one, it was three quarters of the way down and came out,” Bryson said. “And a guy steps up to help (defensively) and they get the weak side rebound. Kind of the way the ball bounces sometimes. … We played a helluva game for the first night.”

Castonguay and Josh Caruso led the Panthers with 13 points apiece, while Karsten Lemire added 10. Bory Bory led Memorial with 16 points, while Christian Bilolo added 12 and Mateo Ancic 10. It was Ancic who had given the Crusaders the lead with 1:06 left.

But it wouldn’t have been this dramatic had the Panthers not suddenly clicked with a Castonguay-led 9-0 run to grab the lead heading into the final quarter. It changed everything.

“It did,” Mazerolle said. “And I think it started at this end with our halfcourt defense. Isaiah Hedquist did a fantastic job as that glue guy in the middle. We got a couple rebounds, deflections, and we have some kids who can score.”

Especially Castonguay, who was the Energizer Panther on the floor.

“I have a deep team, I want to play a lot of guys as I often do,” Mazerolle said. “But I can’t take him off the floor. He doesn’t get tired, he is so good with the ball, he’s gotten so much better defensively. He’s clutch, he’s smart, all of that.”

But who would have thought an opener, which by nature can be sloppy and tough to watch, would be so dramatic – and fun to watch.

“It was a crazy game,” Wainaina said, “since the beginning.”

“Why not, why not, right?” Mazerolle said with a grin.