GARDINER — Winslow got the shot it wanted as time wound down in a tie game against Gardiner on Tuesday night.
But Justin Murray’s baseline drive rolled off the rim and Gardiner senior Jake Palmer did the rest.
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Palmer grabbed the rebound, dribbled the length of the court around a couple of defenders and put up a 15-footer as he fell to the floor.
“I didn’t know how much time there was exactly, but I knew it wasn’t a lot,” Palmer said. “I knew right when I released it, it was going in. It felt good.”
The ball bounced around the rim before it fell through with 2.6 seconds left. The Black Raiders turned the ball over before getting a final shot, preserving a 50-48 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B boys basketball victory for the Tigers. Gardiner is 7-1 while Winslow falls to 3-4.
The Black Raiders trailed by as many as seven points in the second half but battled back to take a 44-43 lead on a tough bank shot from freshman Nason Lanphier. Matt Hall scored on a putback for the Tigers before Murray’s short jumper pushed the lead to 48-45. Gardiner coach Jason Cassidy called timeout and set up a shot for Palmer, who hit a 3-pointer from the right side to tie the game.
“He had a hand in his face,” Winslow coach Jared Browne said of Palmer’s shot. “Give the kid credit, he’s a good player.”
The Black Raiders got the ball back with over a minute left and played for the final shot, calling a timeout with 18 seconds left.
“We worked on getting the ball into Justin’s hands,” Browne said. “We executed our play as best we could have executed it. Tough call at the end, but I’m not going to complain about a call. I thought the officials called it pretty cleanly the entire game and that wasn’t a factor.”
Alonzo Connor did a nice job forcing Murray to the baseline and his shot rolled across the rim where Palmer grabbed it and took off.
“He’s versatile,” Cassidy said of Connor. “Sometimes he guards the 6-5, sometimes he guards the point guard.”
After living and eventually dying by the 3-pointer in a loss to Medomak Valley last week, the Raiders used their quickness to take the ball to the basket. Murray finished with 15 points while sophomoreTrevor Lovely scored 10, all on drives to the basket, and Lanphier scored six. The Raiders also got a strong game from 6-foot-5 junior Austin Ireland, who scored seven points, grabbed eight rebounds and held Gardiner’s Aaron Toman to 12 points.
“He’s pretty physical,” Toman said. “They’re a lot like us, they don’t have a lot of big guys.”
Hall finished with eight rebounds while Toman and Connor each grabbed seven. The Tigers also drew strong defensive games from Tyler Jamison, who guarded Murray most of the game, and Justin Lovely, both of whom scored six points.
Gary Hawkins — 621-5638
ghawkins@centralmaine.com
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