Nashua North's Robinson Rodriquez and Bedford's Dylan Lafferty battle for a rebound during Friday's game. The Titans won 67-60. (Photo by Joe Marchilena)

NASHUA – The Nashua High School North boys basketball team knew it was going to face a lot of pressure Friday night against Bedford.

The Titans spent time in practice the last two days preparing for it, and that work paid off.

North was able to get out and run for stretches in the first and second quarter to build a double-digit lead at halftime and the Titans held on down the stretch for a 67-60 win over the Bulldogs in a Division I contest.

Four players were in double figures for the Titans (4-1), with Trevor Labrecque, Adrian Lazo and Jayden Montgomery each scoring 13 points. Robinson Rodriguez added 10 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter.

Jack Peters and Parth Miglani each added eight points for North, which led by as many as 13 points in the first half.

“The kids play together and the like playing with each other, they share the ball,” North coach Steve Lane said. “The whole key was the first and second quarter. We beat pressure and got layup after layup after layup and they stopped pressing us.

“We prepared for that the last two days, just trying to beat pressure. The kids bought into how to beat pressure and how to look up and attack. It might have been in the 80s if they kept pressing us.”

North went on a 17-2 run that started in the final minutes of the first quarter and gave the Titans a 26-14 lead with 5:36 to go until halftime.

“We haven’t played a team with that speed before,” Bedford coach Frank Moreno said. “They were beating us in transition like we hadn’t seen. Slow start, we’re down 12 at halftime, but we turned it around and came out swinging in the second half.”

Aiden O’Connell led the Bulldogs (4-1) with 25 points before going down late in the game with what appeared to be an ankle injury.

Luke Soden made three of Bedford’s seven 3-pointers and finished with 15 points and Sean Toscano came off the bench to add eight points, all in the second half to help the Bulldogs cut into North’s lead.

The teams went back and forth in the third quarter, with Bedford (4-1) closing the gap to eight going into the fourth. After a basket by Rodriguez made it 58-49 Titans with 7:11 remaining, the Bulldogs went on a 9-2 run, including a 3 by Toscano and a basket from O’Connell, to cut the lead to two points, 60-58.

North had a couple of chances to go up four on the next possession, with Peters grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds, but the Titans couldn’t capitalize before Lane took a timeout with 3:37 to play.

They still couldn’t score out of the break, as Peters was called for an offensive foul. North got the ball back, and during the ensuing possession, O’Connell went down trying to grab a rebound.

Bedford scored just two points the rest of the way, while turning the ball over three times. Rodrigues hit a pair of free throws after the first, giving North some breathing room, 62-58, with 1:49 remaining.

Jaden Pena added a free throw and a basket in transition moments later to make it a seven-point game. Labrecque hit two more free throws to give North a 67-58 lead in the final 30 seconds.

“Other kids are stepping up, getting their chance and making the best of it,” Lane said. “Kids like (Rodriguez), Pena and Lazo finished on the other end for us and made it a little easier than normal. We are far from a complete team, but this will go a long way for our confidence for our kids.”