Nashua South's Josh Caruso, right, and teammate Shane Lemire celebrate a big shot during Friday night's Battle of the Bridge at the Belanger Gym. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – What a difference this Bridge thing makes.

Just over a month ago, when the Nashua High School North and South boys basketball teams clashed in the finals of the Nashua Holiday Tournament, the Titans almost literally held down Panthers sharpshooter Josh Caruso in a three-point win.

But on Friday night in the annual Battle of the Bridge, the South senior wouldn’t be denied, pumping in 37 points to help give the Panthers a 62-50 win at a packed, loud Belanger Gym.

In other words, for the Panthers, the main show was much better than the dress rehearsal.

What was different?

“The atmosphere,” said Caruso, who only had 16 in that holiday game that didn’t count in the standings. “And obviously it means a little bit more, it’s the regular season. We’re playing our best basketball of the year right now.”

And also the player who made life so tough for Caruso back on Dec. 28, Luke Peters, got in early foul trouble and wasn’t able to play with the same reckless abandon defensively.

“It kind of created the distance he had to separate from me,” Caruso said. “We just kept moving a lot more, we weren’t as stagnant, it opened up everything else.”

“I just didn’t realize how consistent you have to be in guarding Caruso,” Peters said. “It’s better to be on the court the whole game with him than having to sub out, sub in, I got in foul trouble early. It’s kind of hard to play him. You have to know him. You have to know what he wants to do and predict what his moves are.”

But still the Titans, who lost their sixth straight to fall to 3-9, weren’t going to go away all that easily. They had closed to within 45-41 late in the third after trailing 36-25 at the break, and then Caruso went on his own 7-0 run to make it a 52-41 game.

“There was one play in the first half, he made a shot,” South coach Nate Mazerolle said. “I’ve coached him for four years, I’ve seen him in practice go two hours without missing a shot. I’ve seen it all. And I still had to walk down the bench and shake my head, because I don’t know how it goes in sometimes.

“But what I’ve said many times before, I’m surprised when he misses. He’s a gamer. The best offensive player, if not the best player I’ve ever had.”

Josh Tripp (nine points) added a layup and it was 54-41 after three.

The closest the Titans would get thereafter was 58-50. The other difference from the holiday game was Robinson Rodriguez had torched the Panthers with 23 points, but this time managed just 14 while Alize Roig-Cortez led North with 15. Shane Lemire added eight for South.

But when the Panthers needed a big hoop, it was Caruso, who had five 3-pointers.

“We did what we normally try to do, keep the ball out of his hands as much as possible,” North coach Steve Lane said. “Actually I thought we did a much better job in the second half, not giving him open looks. But somehow he still ended up with 37. He’s a real good player, deserves everything he gets. He had a helluva night tonight.”

It’s just a different South team than not only a month ago, but mid-January.

“We’re playing our best basketball, and it’s not just Josh,” Mazerolle said. “Josh Tripp is as good a basketball player as anyone in the state, and his defense on Robinson tonight was key. … I think we dictated tempo, we got to run a little bit more than we did the first time. We changed some things, added some things, so there was a little more variety tonight, which certainly helps.”

Nashua North’s Luke Peters tries to strip South’s Josh Caruso from behind during Friday night’s Battle of the Bridge at the Belanger Gym. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Nashua North’s Luke Peters tries to strip South’s Josh Caruso from behind during Friday night’s Battle of the Bridge at the Belanger Gym. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

The two teams are in different worlds right now. Every game now may be like a playoff game for North as it needs to put a streak together to make the tournament. The Titans next host Alvirne, which upset Trinity last night, on Tuesday.

“I’m not thinking about that,” Lane said. “I’m thinking about one game at a time, giving a great effort, and letting the kids still enjoy basketball. If we make the tournament, great; if they don’t, they better do it having a great effort every night.”

The Panthers will be at 9-2 Bedford on Tuesday, the Bulldogs scheduled game with Goffstown moved to today at 3:30 p.m. “It will be another litmus test,” Mazerolle said.

And another challenge for Caruso & Co.