Nashua North coach Steve Lane and his team dutifully watch the post game awards ceremony after falling a week ago to Pinkerton in the Division I finals. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Lost a bit in the disappointment of Sunday’s 90-76 Division I boys basketball title game loss to Pinkerton for Nashua High School North is the bright future.

Don’t be surprised if the Titans are back on the University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gym floor next year – or at least be one of the favorites to be.

Four of the five Titan starters in Sunday’s game will be, or at least will be eligible to be back: current juniors Parth Miglani, Alize Roig-Cortez, Robinson Rodriguez and Luke Peters.

The big loss will be point guard Jaden Pena, who had 30 points in the loss. Roig-Cortez certainly looks like a potential point guard, but of course that’s all to be determined.

Besides Pena, role players Zion Melendez, Peter Donovan, and Gavin Theriault will graduate. Donovan and Melendez were used on the double team on Pinkerton standout Jackson Marshall during Sunday’s game.

“The good thing about it is, they’ve had this experience,” Nashua North coach Steve Lane said. “They got three wins under their belt in the tournament. And all but basically my four seniors are back. Jaden’s not back, and the role guys like Gavin, Peter and Zion, who I love dearly the way they filled those roles to the T. I’m going to miss those guys, but we’ve got a good core back.”

But what a year it was, finishing at 17-5 with a 13-game win streak. It began after losing 55-54 to Keene at home in mid-January and started with a win two nights later over city rival Nashua South. How much fun was the last two months?

“It was in stages of frustration early, not having an identity early, and then the kids just believing in what we were doing, and that we were going to lead them in the right direction,” Lane said. “And they believed in it. Thirteen in a row is pretty good in Division I, I don’t care what team you are, who you’re playing, when you’re playing. The character of the kids.”

For those who missed it, the Titans felt they were on their way to a title, as they fell behind 23-10 to start but rallied to grab a 43-38 halftime lead and a Pena 3-pointer gave the Titans a 50-42 advantage three minutes into the third quarter. But then the Astros went on a 13-0 run, and the game was never the same.

“What the kids did this year was amazing. I’m so proud of where we got to. We just ran into a team that was better than us.”

NEXT YEAR’S LOOK

How will the other locals shape up? It should be interesting and competitive. Nashua South loses elite point guard Zac Castonguay but back is elite scorer Josh Caruso, but that pair worked so well together for a couple of seasons that new chemistry must be formed. “I have no idea what we’re going to do without him next year,” head coach Nate Mazerolle said of Castonguay. The Panthers had a freshman big in Daniel Karavanic who wasn’t afraid to mix it up inside, and a good defender in Samson Akotey, who was a junior. They have some pieces.

Of the other Division I tourney teams, keep an eye on the Broncos at Alvirne. They knocked off Keene on the road before they ran into No. 2 Bedford in the quarterfinals. They have two real keys in shooter Sam DeWitt and a multi-tool Garrett Hall. The only question is who their coach will be, whether promoted assistant/interim coach Christian Patnaude returns or the job is opened up.

Merrimack, meanwhile, loses seven seniors, with Michael Flerra and five other juniors eligible to come back after an eight-win season.

A team to watch is Bishop Guertin. The Cardinals, like their girls team counterparts, had basically a brand new team and coaching staff, with plenty of young building blocks – 6-6 sophomore Eli Youssef, 6-5 freshman Jeremiah Figaro, and 5-10 sophomore guard Connor McGowan for coach Wil Horne. Should be interesting.

In Division II, Milford had a scorer in sophomore Kai Lau Quan and had a few juniors contribute, as they lose three seniors off a small squad. Souhegan did a remarkable job to get to the tournament at 9-9 as a 10th seed after an 0-7 start. One of their victims in their comeback, Bow, turned the tables on them in the prelims and that happens. The Sabers will miss a senior leader like Nolan Colby, but they have a talented sophomore in Weston Hickman and junior shooter in Drew Reagan returning, among others.

“Total success for us after coming back from 0-7 and winning eight in a row to even get to the tournament,” Sabers coach Peter Pierce said. “I’m really proud of our guys. We have some work to do (for next season), we know that, but we’re returning a lot of people.”

Hollis Brookline, meanwhile, is slowly but surely building its way back. The Cavs finished 4-14, lost its last eight, but that was the program’s best record in the last three years. HB has players lke James Arthur and Dylan Kelley to help them take the next step. “While the win-loss ratio was not satisfactory, progress was made throughout the season,” head coach Ryan Kelley said.

Finally, Campbell got a home first round game in Division III but fell short in the final minute against Gilford. In that tourney game a sophomore, Hunter Henderson, led the Cougars in scoring in that game and head coach Justin DiBenedetto said he was “their heart and soul” in the loss. Effort is never a problem with this team, as junior Jack Breton played great defense on a bad ankle in the playoff game. Five juniors will return.

“We’ve got a great junior class coming back,” DiBenedetto said. “I’m looking forward to this team.”

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