NASHUA – Two Gate City rivals entered Tuesday night’s game at Belanger Gymnasium with winning streaks. For a while it looked like the more obvious one was going to continue.

Bishop Guertin led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but junior guard Shane Lemire (12 points) scored a pair of layups in the final minute to tie the game and junior center Daniel Karavanic (17 points) hit a buzzer-beating 3 to send the home fans into a frenzy as the Nashua High School South Purple Panthers (7-6) defeated the Cardinals (11-4), 64-61, snapping BG’s nine-game winning streak.

“I’m not taking any credit for that. That was not what we drew up. Not even close,” Nashua South head coach Nate Mazerolle said after the game. “We had a play that started to develop. It didn’t work. Sometimes I can be a little stringent in terms of ‘we run this, we run that.’ But they’re basketball players. Daniel is a gamer. He wanted the ball and he made it.”

While the matchup came to a thrilling conclusion, the Panthers really had to claw their way back to get there.

BG looked like a team on a hot streak early on with senior guard Connor McGowan (27 points) leading the Cardinals to an 18-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 37-25 lead at halftime, with their biggest lead at 37-21 late in the half.

Senior Eli Youssef (13 points) and junior Andre Steinbreuck (10 points) also reached double figures for Bishop Guertin.

“At halftime we challenged them,” Mazerolle said. “Fittingly, I challenged Daniel the most at halftime.”

Junior Francisco Rodriguez also answered the call. He connected on a triple and a few possessions later he sank a free throw to cut the Panthers’ deficit to 53-46 at the end of the third quarter. He opened the fourth by finishing an alley oop from senior guard Josh Tripp. He drew another foul and made two free throws to cut BG’s lead to 53-51 with 5:52 to play. Rodriguez finished the game with 16 points, 12 of them in the second half.

“We were attacking the rim. That’s what I asked them to do all the time,” Mazerolle said. “They went to the free throw line. We were finishing (at the rim) a little bit better. Although we left a couple on the table in the first half, that’s high school basketball. You’re going to miss layups. But they certainly did what we asked, and (BG) didn’t hurt us as much on the glass and on loose balls in the second half. … We know it has to be five guys on the glass all the time.”

The Cardinals had extended their lead to 61-53 with over three minutes to go, but Lemire had layups with 1:12 and 0:41 on the clock to tie the game at 61-61.

South made a huge stop and held the ball before calling a timeout with 7.4 seconds left. When play resumed Tripp drew a foul, setting up one final inbounds play with 4.7 seconds left. Rodriguez’s inbounds pass found Karavanic at the top of the key. He took one dribble left and fired. He knew it was good from the moment it left his hand.

“That one felt nice,” Karavanic said. “I just tried to find open space when I saw they got down low, I found a pocket. (The defender) was thinking I was going right, so I just tried to get a shot off quick. … We started 4-6, but ever since we got that Bedford win, it feels like we can beat anyone. Honestly, I couldn’t tell we were down 15. Every timeout, every time we’re talking, every huddle, it felt like it was a tied game. We stayed composed. We felt like we could do it.”

“He just told me he won his battle,” Mazerolle said. “And that’s exactly what he wanted.”

While the packed bleachers in the South fan section went wild, BG was processing the loss, its first defeat in over a month.

“We just shot ourselves in the foot, a couple plays here and there that we’ve got to make,” Bishop Guertin head coach Wil Horne said. “Hats off to South. They’re a great team. (Coach Mazerolle) does a great job getting them prepared. They’ve got some great players and they made some really big plays at the end of the game. We’re a really hot team, but we cooled off today, especially down the stretch.”

South has now won three straight and are above .500 for the first time since Jan. 2 when the Panthers were 2-1. A 68-65 victory over Bedford (12-2) on Feb. 3 opened the streak, followed by a 75-43 win over Timberlane three days later. South has a taxing week ahead, with just one practice before back-to-back games at home against Merrimack (6-7) on Thursday and at Dover (6-7) on Friday.

BG has another week before its next game, a road contest at Keene (6-7).

“It’s not an easy week,” Mazerolle said. “This point in the season, it’s a grind. We have to find a way to enjoy this very quickly, have a halfway decent practice tomorrow and then get ready for a very physical, well-coached team against Merrimack.”

PHOTO: Nashua South’s Daniel Karavanic and his teammates celebrate his shot that beat both the buzzer and city rival Bishop Guertin on Tuesdsy night at the Belanger Gym.(Photo by Dan Attorri)