Nashua South's Josh Caruso ponders what was about to be a tough Division I quarterfinal loss at the hands of Exeter at the Belanger Gym on Saturday. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – The reality will sink in at some point in the next couple of weeks.

But right now, neither Josh Caruso or the Nashua High School boys basketball team he has been so good for over four years can grasp the idea that their collective season is over – and with it, an era.

“I will not accept that Josh Caruso is not playing basketball at Nashua South anymore,” Panthers coach Nate Mazerolle said. “And not to mention the other seniors.”

But that is indeed the case after the No. 5 Exeter Blue Hawks held the state’s best scorer to 15 points in a stunning 60-44 Blue Hawk victory in the Division I quarterfinals. Exeter now moves on to Wednesday’s semifinals in Rochester, and the Panthers are left to try to find ways to deal with the disappointment. It was tough outcome physically and mentally for Caruso, especially.

“It’s tough both ways,” he said. “Probably more mentally right now, but it was tough. I’m speechless. I really don’t know what to say right now.”

Just two weeks earlier Caruso had torched the Blue Hawks for 32 points in a 12-point loss.

But yesterday, dogged by Agee Griffith and others, Caruso never got in a rhythm. If he tried to drive to the hoop, he ran into a big dark shirt wall.

“We made it a real emphasis to make it hard for him, deny him the ball and rotate guys,” Exeter coach Jeff Hastings said, “and make someone else beat you.

“We were able to rebound, they didn’t get a ton of second shots. And first time we played them, offensively we struggled. This time we were better – we hit shots.”

The Blue Hawks were aggressive right from the start, driving to the hoop for a 10-2 lead, and were able to take a 25-20 lead into the locker room. Still, you knew the Panthers (15-5) had a run in them, and they started the third quarter at 8-2. A Caruso 3-pointer put the Panthers up 33-32, but Exeter went on an 11-0 run led by Nate McNeff and Nikolas Greco, their go-to players all game, as well as Tyler Ream with a 3-pointer and it was 43-33 Blue Hawks after three. They never relinquished the lead the rest of the way. McNeff ended up with 21 points, Greco with 19 and Ream with 11. South’s only other scorer of consequence was Linc Vanderhorst with nine.

“They hit a big 3 and then we just got stagnant,” Mazerolle said. “We talk all the time, we want to run, especially in our big gym. And we tried. There were a couple of tough turnovers … and they just took over.”

“Ream and McNeff got hot from 3,” Holmes said. “That solves a lot of problems. …

“We know it’s a game of runs. They’re a real good team. Really pleased with the win. … I thought our effort level was outstanding. The kids were ready.”

And ready for Caruso, who may or may not have been bothered by a small cut on his hand incurred early on.

“We’ve been practicing on him for the past week,” Griffith said. “And that’s our main focus. Just locking him up.

“We played him toward the end of the season and it wasn’t good. We just worked on some things, and it worked.”

“They were running an aggressive box-and-one,” Caruso said, “and it was tough to get any looks anywhere.”

South’s Daniel Karavanic gets a shot over Exeter’s Jack Thibodeau during Saturday’s Division I quarterfinal at the Belanger Gym. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

South’s Daniel Karavanic gets a shot over Exeter’s Jack Thibodeau during Saturday’s Division I quarterfinal at the Belanger Gym. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Mazerolle concurred.

“We were prepared for their – and this is not a knock – ‘junk defense’, which we saw the other night (vs. Merrimack in the prelims),” Mazerolle said. “We were expecting it, we prepared for it, we had our game plan. Sometimes, best laid plans…They were prepared. I knew they would be. Their game plan worked better than ours.”

The fourth quarter was no contest. McNeff hit a jumper that made it 51-35 with 5:26 left and it was basically over.

Exeter’s offense was able to take pressure off its defense.

“It’s huge,” Holmes said. “We were never really playing from behind. … A great performance from our guys.”

And as a result, a fun and memorable era ends, just not the way many were hoping.