Nashua South's Josh Caruso drives by Bedford's Landon Ellsmore duirng Tuesday night's game in Bedford. (Photo by Joe Marchilena/NH-HighSchoolSports.com.)

Sometimes the easiest path is the hardest.

Nashua High School boys basketball coach Nate Mazerolle told his team that layups would be one of the keys in Tuesday night’s big Division I contest at Bedford.

And sure enough they were – South gave up too many easy shots and missed to many en route to a 78-68 loss to the Bulldogs.

Even Josh Caruso’s fantastic 38-point effort couldn’t save them.

“We missed 10 layups,” Mazerolle said, later adding, “We didn’t get back on defense. That was the story of the first half. We had too many guys jog back and then ‘oh no, I’ve got to get back.’ By that time, it’s too late.”

Of course, with nearly a month to go, and the Panthers at 9-4, it’s never too late in this very competitive Division I season. Yet gone is the Panthers modest four-game winning streak, and the 11-2 Bulldogs are working on a six-gamer before facing an equally hot Alvirne team on Friday in Hudson.

“You try to slow down Caruso, you do everything you can, and the kid is just unbelievable,” Bedford coach Frank Moreno said. “He’s one of the best scorers I’ve ever coached against. I hope we don’t see them in the playoffs. Nate has them so well prepared.”

The thing was, South could never make the ‘Dogs feel dangerously uncomfortable. Bedford led 34-26 at halftime and 45-32 early in the third quarter. It was 54-45 after three, but when Carsuo hit a 3-pointer the Panthers had pulled to within 68-64 with 3:25 left. But a hoop and two free throws put the ‘Dogs back up by eight and South’s comeback stalled. Four free throws down the stretch by Bedford’s Ali Shoukeir were key. Logan O’Connell led Bedford, which had four in double figures, with 23 points.

“We were 9 for 33 in the first half,” Mazerolle said. “You’re not going to win too many games that way. I got on them a little more than I have and they responded, so that’s something we’ll take as a silver lining.”

Caruso, though, was the only Panther in double figures. Josh Tripp, who had first half foul trouble, had nine points. To be sure, Caruso wasn’t the only Panther taking shots.

“A couple of layups, a couple of 3s that go in, it’s an entirely different ball game,” Mazerolle said. “Then they have to respect everyone else and Josh maybe gets 45.”

In other words, there were plenty of ways where the Panthers could have made things different. Mazerolle took that as a positive.

“There’s a silver lining there,” Mazerolle said. “Very tough place to play, one of the better teams in the state certainly. We will take that as a positive but also a missed opportunity.”

(Joe Marchilena of nh-highschoolsports.com contributed to this report.)