BANGOR – No Ralph Mims. No answer for Gardiner’s two big guys, Sean McNally and Craig Toulouse. No return to the Eastern Class A boys’ basketball championship game for Brunswick.
McNally, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, racked up 17 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots Friday afternoon as sixth-seeded Gardiner convincingly chased No. 3 Brunswick, 61-49, from the quarterfinals at Bangor Auditorium.
Toulouse and Eric Collins added 15 points apiece to lead the Tigers (14-6) into next Friday’s semifinals against the winner of today’s Oxford Hills-Cony clash.
Brunswick, which never led in the game, finishes at 17-2 after three straight 20-win seasons. Those teams showcased Mims, the explosive guard who’s seeing playing time as a true freshman at Florida State.
The Dragons trailed by as many as 13 in the first half and clawed no closer than three, 43-40, at the end of the third quarter.
Toulouse scored eight points and McNally added six to help Gardiner slither away in the fourth.
Jesse Kaplan led Brunswick with 12 points. Doug Eichinger chipped in 11 with eight rebounds.
Gardiner started two sophomores and a freshman, but showed little trepidation on the unfamiliar Auditorium floor, racing to leads of 8-3 and 13-8.
Collins nailed two 3-pointers in the opening period. McNally and Toulouse combined for 11 in the second period, and the Tigers went up 30-22 at the half.
With sophomore Peter Kelley (six assists) and freshman Kyle Stilphen (five) setting up McNally and Toulouse for numerous lay-ups and short jumpers, the Tigers shot 54 percent from the field. They contained Brunswick to 35 percent.
Nokomis 33, Bangor 31
Bangor might wish its Eastern Class A girls’ battle with Nokomis were a best-of-seven series. The rivals split their four countable games this winter.
The No. 6 Warriors won the one that counted most, though, putting away the No. 3 Rams, 33-31, in Friday afternoon’s quarterfinal at Bangor Auditorium.
Sophomore Teresa Cooper canned a 3-pointer with 1:41 remaining in regulation to nudge Nokomis (16-4) in front by one.
Alyssa Bragdon hit the front end of a one-and-one with seven seconds left to make it a two-point cushion. Bangor’s Ilyse Angst drove to the hoop for the potential tying bucket just inside the buzzer, but it fell harmlessly off the front of the rim.
Freshman Kelley Paradis led Nokomis with 11 points, all in the first half. Rozlyn Petersen added nine points. Cooper connected for five of her seven points in the fourth period.
The Warriors will face today’s Skowhegan-Oxford Hills survivor in next Thursday’s semifinals.
Nokomis led by six at 26-20 to start the fourth, but Bangor freshman Amy Hackett scored two straight buckets, and Serena Dubois hit two free throws to tie it.
Hackett’s hoop with 2:08 to go gave Bangor a 31-29 lead.
Angst paced the Rams with 12 points. Hackett’s six points all came in the fourth. She also made four steals.
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