Nashua South's Josh Tripp (24) appears bothered by the defense of Trinity's Jordan Torres as he tries for a layup during Friday's game at the Belanger Gym. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – As Nashua High School boys basketball coach Nate Mazerolle will tell you, there’s quick, and then there’s “basketball quick.”

Introducing the Trinity Pioneers.

Nashua North alum Ray Farmer’s team gave the Panthers fits on Friday, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 72-61 win. It was a nice bounce-back win from losing to Bishop Guertin at home for the Pioneers, and a another case of the Panthers needing to get untracked defensively as well as on offense. Last night was a case of defense, missed layups, and turnovers.

“If you were to go into the room with the white board where we meet, you’d probably see those things,” Mazerolle said. “They’re (Trinity) very good. They’re smart, they’re very good with the ball, and that’s one of the better passing teams I’ve seen in a long time. They’re quick, and they’re basketball quick.

“We like to play fast. And they’re faster right now.”

The Pioneers used an 11-1 run midway through the first quarter to set the pace, up 19-14 after one. They led 38-34 at the half, but then the Panthers (4-2) went on a 6-0 run to upset the Pioneer pace, but that didn’t last as Trinity led 55-47 after three and maintained that advantage the rest of the way.

The other key was blanketing South senior scorer Josh Caruso, and the Pioneers did just that, as Farmer credited junior guard Jamar Gregory-Alleyne as the main reason the Panther sharpshooter finished with just 13 points.

“Huge bounce-back,” Farmer said, his team now 5-1. “I challenged our team to hold Caruso under 20 points, and if we did that we would win. Tonight he was under 20, and Jamar face guarded him, played phenomenal defense, and gave everything. I can’t say enough. Cramped up, played so hard.

“We got back to who we were tonight. Playing fast, playing hard, getting back to our brand of basketball.”

The Pioneers were led by Jordan Torres’ 19 points, plus 16 by senior point guard Shawn O’Neil and 11 from Gregory-Alleyne. South was led by Francisco Rodriguez Malagnon’s 14, while besides Caruso, Daniel Karavanic had 13 of his own.

During South’s early third quarter burst, Farmer called time and put his better defenders back in the game. Then nearly two minutes into the final quarter, Trinity’s Xander McBournie hit a 3-pointer that put the Pioneers up 60-49. The Panthers made a brief run to cut it to eight but that’s as close as they would get.

The 14 turnovers in the first half, many of which led to transition baskets for Trinity, set the tone and that continued in the final 16 minutes.

“You’re not going to win many games that way,” Mazerolle said. “We don’t have recreate the wheel or anything. As I told them at halftime, we work on simple drills such as passing and catching. You’re not going to create the adversity (in practice), but again, simple fundamentals. We weren’t as good as we should be.”