Gardiner guard Brayden Elliott fires a pass during a 60-57 win over Cony on Friday night in Augusta. Dave Dyer/Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA — The Gardiner boys basketball team trailed rival Cony by 22 points with three minutes left in the first half.
The game seemed all but over to everyone inside Cony’s gym, packed with fans for both a rivalry game and Senior Night festivities.
Everyone, that is, except for the visiting Tigers.
Gardiner fought back, thanks to a 22-point third quarter, took its first lead early in the fourth quarter and held off the Rams, 60-57, in a Class A North showdown.
Junior guard Brady Peacock led the Tigers (9-9) with 23 points, including 16 in the second half. Sophomore guard Trace Moody added 15 points.
“It’s definitely a great win, beating Cony,” Peacock said. “We’re trying to get back on track of beating them yearly. It’s been a little bit of a stretch of a couple of years, but it feels good.”
Junior Parker Morin scored 14 points for Cony (10-8). Senior forward Keenan Clark added 13.
It was actually the second time this season the Tigers made a comeback against the Rams. In the first matchup, a 71-70 loss in Gardiner on Jan. 23, the Tigers rallied from 12 points down before falling short.
SEE-SAW BATTLE
Play was back-and-forth in the first quarter, with Cony holding a 11-9 lead, but in the second quarter, Cony got hot. Really hot. And Gardiner went cold. Cony went on a 20-0 run and led 31-9 with three minutes left in the first half.
“In the first half, we had a lot of good looks, they just weren’t falling,” Gardiner coach Aaron Toman said.
Gardiner managed to find some offense late in the first half, scoring 13 points. and trailed 35-22 at halftime. It was a stretch that proved beneficial for the Tigers.
“We preach as a staff about mindset, it’s all about mindset. It’s about being gritty,” Toman said. “Those guys tonight, they bought into that. I’m very proud of them. They didn’t get too high or too low. They made plays when they needed to.”
Gardiner hit four 3-pointers in the third quarter and outscored the Rams 22-8 to get within 44-43 entering the final quarter. The Tigers took their first lead of the game with 6:36 left on a floater by Peacock.
“We all trust each other to take those (big) shots,” Moody said. “We don’t get mad at (missing) open shots, because we know they’re going to fall eventually.”
Moody went 4 for 4 from the foul line to help secure the win.
“With Trace and Brady, they put a lot of time in, they’re hard workers,” Toman said. “In the second half, those looks were there and they started falling. They just loosened up, played a little more free, we can breathe. I think that’s what the difference was.”
TRUE RIVALRY
The Tigers and Rams split their regular-season matchups, and the combined margin of victory was four points.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
From a playoff standpoint, this game meant nothing. Cony enters the Class A North tournament as the No. 4 seed, while Gardiner stays at No. 7. However, the victory is a major jolt of confidence for the Tigers, who have not been to the tournament in eight years, and can take pride in a major victory over their rival.
Cony had won five straight before dropping its final two regular-season games.
“It’s definitely a confidence booster,” Peacock said. “I think we got locked in (against No. 2) Brewer (in the quarterfinal round). It’s nice to go in there with a win.”
THEY SAID IT
“(The win) is huge. It’s great to have a good win (at Cony), having that momentum going into tournament week. This is the first time we’ve been there in eight years, so it’s a new experience for us. We’re excited, the guys are excited. I’m very proud of them, they’ve worked very hard for this.” — Aaron Toman
“We all know we can play in any game we want to, it’s just getting open shots. They weren’t falling. We just kept shooting and they fell in the end. We played our hearts out and knew we could come back and win. (The key) was putting constant pressure on them, and momentum was on our way.” — Trace Moody
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Gardiner: Brady Peacock (23 points), Trace Moody (15 points)
Cony: Parker Morin (14 points), Keenan Clark (13 points)
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