GARDINER — Playing fruitless catch-up on the court in the first half led to playing fruitless catch-up on the scoreboard in the second half Monday night for Leavitt.

Down 18 points after watching Gardiner rattle off 11 in a row to end the first half, the Hornets fought back to within four before fading to a 61-55 KVAC Class B boys’ basketball defeat at Bragoli Memorial Gym.

Gardiner (10-1) compensated for the absence of senior big man Aaron Toman, out with a sprained ankle, by driving aggressively to the basket in its halfcourt sets and capitalizing on almost every opportunity in transition.

Foul trouble, cold shooting and sluggish feet doomed Leavitt (8-3), which watched a 17-15 lead unravel into a 39-21 deficit in just over five minutes.

“We got away with it in the first quarter because neither team shot the ball well, but in the second quarter our defense was just atrocious,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said. “We didn’t sprint back like we needed to. We didn’t stop the ball. We let guys drive through the paint uncontested. They did a very good job of adjusting their game plan for not having Toman.”

Junior Tyler Jamison scored 14 of his game-high 19 points for Gardiner in the second quarter, when the Tigers went 11-for-16 from the field and outscored the Hornets 28-8.

Alonzo Connor scored all six of his points in the period and drew a pair of offensive fouls.

Jamison did most of his damage with drives and open jump shots. His last offering from the top of the key beat the buzzer to cap an 11-0 run over the final 2:17.

“We do fastbreak drills probably 20 minutes to a half-hour every practice,” Jamison said. “We know we don’t have the size that other teams have, so we have to keep getting better in that area.”

Leavitt’s 4-for-14 shooting in the second quarter and its six turnovers (out of only 11 in the game) helped Gardiner to that numerical advantage in the open floor.

“If we’re going to compete with teams like Leavitt, Medomak Valley and Winslow, we’re going to have to play a strong transition game,” Gardiner coach Jason Cassidy said. “The kids played it to a ‘T’ tonight.”

Matt Hall scored 16 points and Jake Palmer added 15 for the Tigers, who held on despite an erratic 13-for-29 night at the free-throw line.

One day after winning football’s Fitzpatrick Trophy, Jordan Hersom led Leavitt with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Two early fouls limited Hersom to four points prior to intermission, however, and the collective challenges of Hall (12 boards), Jamison (seven), Palmer (six) and Connor hounded almost every shot by the 6-foot-3 senior.

“Matt Hall talked about this all week. This is what he wanted to do. He wanted to step up to that challenge,” Cassidy said.

“He’s a tough kid to take on in the paint,” Hall said of Hersom. “You have to stay straight up, try to play defense against him the way you would anyone else, and box him out.”

Second-chance buckets and multiple journeys to the line got Hersom untracked in the third quarter.

Leavitt held Gardiner off the scoreboard for more than three minutes and chipped away at the lead. Hersom’s hustle on the glass produced a late three-point play, and Leavitt lurked within eight, 47-39, as the quarter ended.

“We held them to eight points and started to get the ball into the paint,” Hathaway said. “We settled for a lot of contested jump shots in the first half, and that’s not what we’re about.”

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Tyler Walton and Andrew Middleton made it 49-45 with 6:53 to go, but buckets by Hall and Justin Lovely restored Gardiner’s roar.

Hersom baskets cut it back to six points on two occasions.

Another Leavitt cold snap of more than three minutes and a three-point play by Palmer put it out of reach.

Tim Dow scored 13 points for Leavitt. Walton added 11 points and four assists.

Leavitt remains No. 2 in Western Class B Heal Points. Gardiner jumped to that spot in Eastern B with its seventh straight win.

“We have a lot of momentum,” Hall said. “All we need to do is keep playing with this same energy.”

[email protected]