Alvirne's Courtney Anderson loses the handle while surrounded by Nashua South's Nitzann Alkalay (12), Addison Borden (4) and Nicole De Jesus during Tuesday night's game in Hudson. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

HUDSON – It just seems like every win is a big win for the Nashua High School girls basketball team.

So put Tueday night’s 56-53 triumph over the Alvirne Broncos at the Steckevicz Gym in that category.

“It’s a big win, we’ve got to take them where we can get them,” South coach John Bourgeois said. “I believe in this team and I think we can pull out many of those throughout the year, we’ll see.”

The 3-2 Panthers had to rely on their defense and free throws as they went without a field goal after a Nicole De Jesus (game-high 19 points) traditional 3-point play gave them a 53-48 lead with 4:01 to play. It worked.

“One hundred percent to them, they wanted it more than us tonight, they deserved it tonight,” Alvirne coach Frank Girginis said of the Panthers after his 3-2 team lost its second regular straight regular season game but really its third straight overall. “They played with tremendous heart and energy, John does a fabulous job with them. We couldn’t match their intensity, we couldn’t match their heart.”

It wasn’t hard to figure out how this went down. The Panthers took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by De Jesus – they had eight as a team – with 6:16 left, 49-47, and buckets were hard to come by the rest of the way. But the Broncos turned the ball over in five of six possessions down the stretch, and missed key free throws during that span.

“We had every opportunity to win the game, but we didn’t deserve to win,” Girginis said. “My girls fought, but until they realize it’s the little things that matter, this is what’s going to happen. You’re going to win some, you’re going to lose some, and be a .500 team. We can be better, I know we will.”

Karina O’Donnell added 11 to the South cause while the Broncos were paced by Courtney Anderson’s 17 and nine each by Ella Hartson and Alexis Floyd.

South led 53-51 after the teams traded free throws with 48.7 seconds left, and after some helter-skelter play, the Panthers’ Maren Lowell hit one out of two from the line for a 54-51 lead with 15 seconds left. Alvirne’s Ella Hartson made a layup with 6.9 ticks remaining, as Girginis opted to not have his team try for a potential game-tying 3-pointer, figuring they might be able to cause a turnover or at least force South to make more free throws.

The problem was, they did, and it was none other than two by De Jesus with 5.4 seconds to go. Then she got a steal and that did it.

“Tonight the girls came in, hit shots, free throws, 3-pointers, they stuck together and they pulled it out,” Bourgeois said. “The girls executed, that was a tough game to win. Frank does a great job with that program, always getting them to play hard. Our girls just executed.”

And rose to the occasion.

“We talk about it all the time at practice, things not going our way,” Bourgeois said. “Whether it be refs, be a crowd, things not going our way. The girls just found a way to be disciplined when it mattered the most.”