The Tigers connect at a 65-percent clip while ousting the Cougars.
GARDINER – It was only appropriate they finished it up the way they started.
Gardiner’s Emily Coughlan opened the scoring with a three-pointer and teammate Katie Frink closed the game in the same fashion as the No. 8 Tigers routed ninth-ranked Mt. Blue, 65-34 in a girls’ Eastern Class A preliminary Tuesday night.
The Tigers shot 65 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point land while leading wire-to-wire.
“When you shoot the ball that well, you are going to put 65 on the board,” said Gardiner coach Heath Cowan. “To come in here tonight and have a performance like this on our home floor is very good for the kids.”
Both teams came out firing in the opening minutes but it was Gardiner that was lighting up the scoreboard. Five different Tigers scored as the team held a 9-4 lead midway through the quarter.
Mt. Blue had chances as well as the Cougars repeatedly went into the low post to freshman Christina Mosher. Mosher did score the first four points for the Cougars but more often the Gardiner defense collapsed on the freshman.
“She did have her position and she did have her shots,” said Mt. Blue coach Jeannine Beaulieu. “But when we don’t have many defensive stops, its hard.”
Coughlan led Gardiner with eight points in the opening frame as the Tigers posted a 20-11 advantage.
Gardiner continued to pile it on the subsequent quarters. Midway through the second quarter Mosher was seated with three fouls.
“In our offensive set, we didn’t set the screens,” said Beaulieu. “We made them look like they were playing a zone when they were playing man-to-man. So in that type of set when you don’t cut to the ball and cut to get open, you just pass back and forth, you aren’t giving yourself a chance to score.”
Gardiner slowed the tempo down in the final eight minutes and still managed to add eight points to their margin.
The Tigers were led by Becky Dixon with 15 points. Heather McNally had 12 and Coughlan 10. Mosher led Mt. Blue with nine points.
“Our kids didn’t take this one for granted,” said Cowan. “Defensively we did a great job on Mosher once we got to our double-team that we’ve been practicing. This is the first time we’ve been here (Bangor) since I’ve been here (three years).”
Gardiner advances to the quarterfinals where it will face No. 1 Cony, which beat the Tigers by five last week.
“We played them very tough,” said Cowan. “We let them get away from us in the third quarter but the kids didn’t quit. The kids left the lockerroom that night starting to believe in themselves. It showed out here tonight on the court.”
pmullen@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.