AUGUSTA — For most of the second half, Medomak Valley threatened to run away with the boys Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B basketball championship.

The Panthers led by as many as 15 points against Gardiner late in the third quarter, but the Tigers kept chipping away. They never regained the lead, though, and lost 61-57 before a capacity crowd at Cony High School.

“Gardiner’s tough,” Medomak coach Nick DePatsy said. “They’re a very competitive team. They’re going to be a tough out in the tournament.”

For much of the game, Medomak Valley’s size was too much for the Tigers to handle. 6-foot-7 junior John Murray grabbed 10 rebounds, scored 15 points and controlled the paint along with 6-5 Ryan Ripley who had 11 rebounds.

Murray scored eight points in the second quarter and Zack Judkins came off the bench to nail a pair of 3-pointers as the Panthers outscored the Tigers 23-17 in the quarter to take a 35-25 lead at intermission.

“They were making everything they threw up early and we were missing everything we threw up,” Gardiner coach Jason Cassidy said.

The 10-point lead held up through the third quarter as Murray scored three hoops in the paint and Justin Lovely had three driving layups for Gardiner. Isaac Greenrose scored 10 of his game-high 24 points for the Panthers in the fourth quarter. His three-point play put Medomak Valley up 57-46 with three minutes left, but the Tigers scrambled on defense and got a pair of big 3s from Travis Kelley and Jake Palmer. Tyler Jamison hit two free throws to make it a four-point game but the Tigers ran out of time.

Aaron Toman led Gardiner with 16 points, eight in the fourth quarter, while Jamsion added 14.

Both teams finished at 16-2 in the regular season with Medomak Valley winning their one meeting 64-53. Medomak Valley finished second in the Eastern Maine Class B standings and Gardiner third.

“We wanted to make them play fourth quarters and we did,” Cassidy said. “There’s a chance we could both see each other again in a week and a half.”

KVAC notes: Nokomis beat Leavitt 65-53 to win the girls KVAC game . . . Nokomis coach Kori Dionne was named Class B girls coach of the year while DePatsy was the boys coach of the year . . . Medomak’s Alanna Vose was the girls player of the year while Leavitt’s Jordan Hersom was boys player of the year. Hersom also won the Fitzpatrick Trophy this year as the state’s top senior football player . . . The KVAC girls first team included Shaw (Nokomis), Jordan Knowlton (Camden Hills), Vose (Medomak), Anderson (Leavitt) and Elizabeth Ferry (Winslow). … The boys first team consisted of Adam Carlsen (Camden Hills), Aaron Toman (Gardiner), Hersom (Leavitt), Isaac Greenrose (Medomak) and Ethan Pearl (Nokomis).

Gary Hawkins — 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com

 

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