GARDINER — The Gardiner girls basketball team is picking up steam as the playoffs get closer.
Lizzy Gruber set a career high in points with 35 while grabbing 23 rebounds, and the Tigers defeated fellow Class A North contender Lawrence 60-50 Tuesday night.
It was a rematch of a 56-42 loss to the Bulldogs in December, and while Lawrence (14-3) had the upper hand in the first half, the Tigers (15-1) had the answers this time in the second.
“We’ve played well, we’ve gotten the wins we were supposed to get. Tonight was a good test of where are we really,” said coach Mike Gray, who also got 16 points from Megan Gallagher. “I just feel like we’re a different team than we were in December and so are they, and these are two pretty evenly-matched teams. I really liked the way we buckled down defensively in the second half.”
Gruber was the focal point for the Tigers, scoring 25 of her points in the second half as Gardiner’s post game began to wear down Lawrence.
“They have a lot of size, they have three or four bigs … but throughout the years, they’ve fouled out pretty consistently,” Gruber said. “I just went at them and drew the foul. That was my goal tonight and I think I accomplished it.”
Lawrence had balanced scoring, getting 14 points from Ali Higgins and 13 apiece from Hope Bouchard and Emily Hagerty. However, after it beat Gardiner’s defense with hot shooting in the first half, Lawrence started to struggle when the shots stopped falling in the third quarter.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a tight game against a real quality team. We were looking for this one to get us ready for the playoffs,” Lawrence coach Greg Chesley said. “Although we didn’t win, I think it was a step towards getting ready for the playoffs. We beat them at home, and they beat us here, so (on a) neutral court, it should be a lot of fun.”
Lawrence took a 21-17 lead into the half behind eight points from Hagerty, but Gardiner rode 11 points from Gruber and five from Gallagher to a 35-32 lead after three.
Gardiner’s Piper Lavoie tries to squeeze through Lawrence defenders Elizabeth Crommett, left, and Hope Bouchard during a Class A North game Tuesday night in Gardiner. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal
Echoing Gruber’s point, Gray said the gameplan became to attack the Bulldogs inside.
“We made it a point to try to go at their post and make their post try to defend Lizzy,” he said, “which not only got us to the line and got Lizzy good looks, but it opened things up for our guards to have a little more room to attack.”
Hagerty and Higgins both hit 3-pointers in the first minute of the fourth to keep Lawrence within a basket, but Gardiner scored seven of the next nine points. Gallagher hit a 3-pointer with five minutes left to make it 47-40 and create some breathing room.
Gallagher and defensive specialist Piper LaVoie were two guards giving the Tigers a perimeter presence as well as one in the post.
“I feel like Piper played an amazing game. She was a scoring threat and she played amazing defense, which was exactly what we needed her to do,” Gruber said. “Everyone did their job, and that’s the most important part.”
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