The Nashua North bench celebrates a big hoop in the fourth quarter of the Titans' win over rival Nashua South in the finals of the Nashua Holiday Tourney at Titans Gym. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – It took four years, but the Nashua Holiday Basketball Tournament title finally belongs to the Nashua High School North girls basketball team.

And after how dominant the Nashua South girls looked in the semis on Saturday, who would have expected it? But the Titans put forth a gritty defensive effort in edging South 47-45 on Sunday for their first crown. They had lost to Milford in 2022 and South in 2023.

“We’ve been building toward an identity, and I think tonight we saw the full identity,” North coach Curt Dutilley said. “Great ball handling, great decision making, good shooting, but also looking to find interior buckets when we can get them. But finally tonight solid, smart defense. That’ what we’ve been looking for.”

The Titans hung on in this one. South, down 45-43, had two chances to tie the game but turned the ball over, leading to a pair of clinching free throws by North’s Madelyn Tino with 8.1 seconds left.The Panthers’ Anya Challinger hit a jumper as time was winding down but the seconds ticked off as the ball went through the hoop.

“I think we didn’t have the mental toughness to win a close game like this,” South coach John Bourgeois said, his team 4-1 overall. “In some ways we beat ourselves, credit to North for winning, but there were opportunities we allowed them to get. Turning the ball over, second chance opportunities by not boxing out, missing layups, you name it. We certainly had a large part in this game in beating ourselves.”

Dutilley, who chided his team’s “vacation defense” in Saturday semifinal win over Milford, saw a different effort on Sunday. But the question was how would the Titans handle South’s pressure that helped them get a 33-0 run vs. Alvirne the day before.

“We’ve seen the press,” Dutilley said. “In my opinion, it’s one of the best presses in the division, I said that last year. But we now have two freshmen ball handlers added to the mix (Evelyn Hebert, Alaina Small). We had a plan, once they got comfortable with what we were trying to do, we no longe felt the press was going to be the problem. It was whether we were going to play good defense down the other end.”

North jumped out to leads of 9-2 and 16-9, but the Panthers, who trailed 27-24 at the half, put together a 10-0 run to lead 41-35 early in the fourth quarter. But a looked like the Panthers would pull away, but the Titans, who were led by senior Angie King’s 14 points, were not fazed. A couple of King treys put the Titans back up for good, 44-41, with 4:12 to play.

“Not fazed at all,” Dutilley said. “We talked before the game, ‘What’s the one thing you don’t want this game to become? Emotional. Rivalry game, right? Just play a basketball game…Everybody did it, and we learned we can overcome mistakes.”

Besides King, Tino added 12 points and Lilly Small 11. South was led by Challinger’s 13 and 10 by Nicole De Jesus. But the Titans held the Panthers dynamic guard scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Nashua South’s Nicole De Jesus loses the ball while driving to the hoop against Nashua North’s Alaina Small (14) during Sunday’s finals of the Nashua Holiday Tournament at Titans Gym. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

The two teams meet again in a game that counts in the actual Division I standings on Jan. 30. South gets back to regular season play Friday at 1:30 p.m. at home vs. Keene, while North gets to savor this until it hosts Concord on Tuesday.

“If we don’t take care of the fundamentals that we’re working on, we lose the game, it’s simple as that,” Bourgeois said. “We’re not giving ourselves a chance to win.

“This is something we’ve needed. I’m excited for the next step. … We have a long way to go. We haven’t proven anything.”

Dutilley felt his team, 3-2 overall, proved something, to him and others.

“This was like a playoff game, against a high quality team,” he said. “Those games are going to eb and flow. You need to surive when it’s going low on you, and we did, we bounced back every single time. … A tremendous confidence builder. They now believe in who they are.”

And as of Sunday, they are Nashua Holiday Tournament champions.

THIRD PLACE GAME

MILFORD 45, ALVIRNE 40

Freshman Jordyn Shaw went 4 for 4 at the fould line in the fourth quarter as Milford took third place in the tourney. Shea Hansen, who injured her wrist in the game, led the way with 16 points while Lexi Bausha added 11 and Trinity Millner eight. Alvirne was paced by Lexi Floyd’s 15 points and 11 by Haylie Christman.