Nashua North fans celebrate the Titans' boys hoop Battle of the Bridge win over South on Friday night. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Now that the Battle has been over, the Bridge either won or lost, the Nashua High School North and South basketball teams can get on with the rest of their seasons.

Friday was a fun night, a night when coaches often cringe because the North-South rivalry can both elevate players to loftier heights or deflate them as they try to do too much.

But now, it’s back to the reality of the grind. For example, the 4-5 Panther girls have the weekend to enjoy their 58-42 win, but have some tough games ahead, such as Goffstown, powerhouse Bedford and Dover back to back to back at month’s end. They can counter those by beating teams – like they did North – that are around them in the standings or below as they fight to try to make the Division I tourney. They rely on pressure and often 3-point shooting to keep teams at bay, and that’s how they beat North.

“We needed this game,” Panthers coach John Bourgeois said. “It’s not going to be an easy year. We’re a short group, we’re young, we have a feisty group, we wear the edge title on our sleeve for a reason, because that’s what’s going to be needed to win games this year.”

Same with the Titans who are now 3-6 at the halfway mark It’s likely teams will need seven wins to safely be one of the 14 teams that get in the postseason, but that really remains to be seen.

“We’ve got a big week coming up,” North coach Curt Dutilley said. “We’ve got Keene in Keene. At Keene and then home Keene. There’s plenty of win opportunities out there; that’s not an issue. It’s just a matter that you’ve got to execute.

“First time around in a game like this, it’s a little bit of nerves, it shows up in the first quarter …”

But possibly that won’t be the case going forward as far as the nerves go as the rivalry games are done.

As for the boys, the Titans were fighting to stay afloat and confident, as they certainly weren’t expecting to start the month with four straight losses, albeit close ones. Now they’re 5-4, feeling much better after their 67-58 win over South, but have a bit of another rivalry game Tuesday night when they host a young Bishop Guertin team that picked up only its second win the other night but can break out at any moment.

“South is going to survive, because they’ve already got six wins at this point, they’re 6-3,” North coach Steve Lane said. “We kind of needed it a little bit more. And I’m just happy for our kids.”

“In the playoffs, we’re going to have to face the same teams,” Titan Parth Miglani said. “We’re going to have to go through everybody, we know that. … One day at a time.”

North won by containing South’s backcourt tandem of Josh Caruso and Zac Castonguay to reasonable scoring numbers from an opponent’s standpoint. Now the Panthers face a tough 5-3 Exeter team on Monday night, so there’s really no time to reflect. Caruso was actually a game time decision the other night with a bad foot so recovery time is cut as well. That pair is the key to the Panthers for sure.

“I wouldn’t trade either one of them for the world,” South coach Nate Mazerolle said. “We’ll be better Monday night.”

Back to the grind. All four teams are on the other side of The Bridge now.

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