GARDINER — The Gardiner girls basketball team receives contributions from up and down its bench nearly every game. The Tigers can play shut-down defense and they can pour in points.
And so the question was posed Tuesday night to coach Mike Gray: Can the Tigers go undefeated?
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“No, we never talk about that,” he said. “Let’s just win every game we should.”
Lately, that’s been every one of them.
Kylee Granholm scored a game-high 15 points and added six rebounds to lead Gardiner past rival Winslow 60-38 in an Eastern B game at Bragoli Memorial Gym.
Katie McAllister and Kelsey Moody each added eight points for Gardiner, which pushed its season-opening winning streak to eight games.
“We played four good quarters,” Granholm said. “We hadn’t done that yet, so that was good. It was a big win.”
Liz Ferry scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Winslow (3-4), which pulled within 12 points early in the second half. Devin Fitzgibbons — one of seven freshmen on the roster — also added eight points off the bench for the Black Raiders.
“We didn’t execute,” Winslow coach Tom Nadeau said. “(Gardiner) is very athletic and quick. They came ready and prepared. You can’t give good teams the opportunities we gave them.”
The Tigers started fast and never looked back, scoring the first seven points of the game.
Paige Pilsbury scored four of her six points in the opening run for Gardiner, which led 17-6 after the first quarter.
“We like setting the tone,” Pilsbury said. “We like to get on a run and get it going.”
The Tigers had it going for much of the night. They closed the second quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 29-11 lead into the half.
The Raiders did score six quick points to open the second half, prompting Gray to call a timeout.
“We didn’t want them to get back into the game,” said Gray, whose team led 29-17 a minute into the third quarter.
The Tigers didn’t, using a 12-0 run to pull away for good.
Granholm scored eight points during the stretch, with many of the baskets coming inside the paint.
“They just kept feeding it to me,” she said. “It felt good. It was important to answer.”
Added Gray: “It was a big point in the game. We wanted to stop them. It was a big moment.”
Moody hit a pair of 3-pointers off the bench in the second half and the Tigers made their free throws to keep the Raiders at a distance.
“It was a big win,” Gray said. “We’re getting better. Leavitt and Nokomis played in the state game for a reason last year. We know we’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer.”
Added Pilsbury: “It’s a great feeling to be 8-0. It’s unbelievable.”
Bill Stewart – 621-5640
bstewart@centralmaine.com
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