Gardiner girls basketball fends off Erskine in Class B North clash

Olivia Childs, right, of Erskine Academy is defended by Gardiner’s Brynnlea Chaisson during Monday’s game in Gardiner. (Joe Phelan/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

GARDINER — The 2025 portion of the schedule could hardly have gone better for the Gardiner girls basketball season.

The Tigers’ success carried over to the first game of 2026.

In tight situations, Gardiner has come through by relying on its defense — and in one of the Tigers’ biggest games to date, that again was enough Monday night. Gardiner survived a late Erskine Academy charge to claim a 60-54 win in a KVAC Class B North clash.

The win continued an undefeated start for the Tigers, who improved to 8-0.

“Our composure and our mental toughness is what allowed us to overcome that storm and finish this,” said Gardiner coach Britney Gero. “It has been defense, defense, defense for us, and if we can keep our composure and do that to get stops, we can beat anybody.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

Fueled by a big first quarter from Molly Takatsu and Zoey Sullivan-Brennan, Gardiner led by double digits for much of the first half and held a 34-19 advantage at the break. If not for five first-half 3-pointers from Erskine’s Kienna Morse, an Eagles team that otherwise struggled offensively could have faced an even bigger deficit.

Sparked by five more points from Morse and a 10-point burst from Kinsey Ulmer, the Eagles (5-3) closed to within 49-42 entering the fourth. Erskine then got Gardiner in foul trouble, reaching the bonus quickly and hitting free throws to cut the deficit to 53-51 with 1:58 left.

“The second quarter has been an issue we’re trying to work through with finding different rotations — who’s got gas, who doesn’t, and who needs a reset,” said Erskine coach Danielle Lefferts. “We were a little chaotic in the first half against their pressure, but once we realized we could break it, we started to play our offensive game.”

Yet faced with letting an unbeaten start slip away, Gardiner let its defense take hold. The Tigers forced three turnovers in the final two minutes, including a steal by Takatsu with Gardiner up three.

“I saw her running there, and I said, ‘Oh, shoot; I should probably get on her,’” Takatsu said. “I just ran as fast as I could, and I got (in front of) it. … It made me super excited.”

WHAT IT MEANS

• Gardiner jumped from seventh to third in the Class B North Heal point standings after notching a win over last year’s regional runner-up. It was a vital win for the Tigers, who are trying to keep pace with Old Town, Ellsworth and Lawrence.

“B North is hard with how we’re spread out, so it’s super important to get those wins when you can,” Gero said. “We don’t play Ellsworth or Old Town, and I would have liked to get a shot at them. We’ll just have to see those teams in the playoffs.”

• Erskine dropped its second straight game after a 5-1 start. The Eagles have allowed a combined 128 points in defeats to Gardiner and Lawrence, something Lefferts said must improve with the second half of the regular season approaching.

“Our defense is kind of our bread and butter, and this year has been about trying to find our new identity with it,” Lefferts said. “We’ve just got to learn that it’s still within us, and we’ve got to bring it out and play 32 minutes of basketball.”

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

“I think my teammates finding me, getting boards and kicking it and driving worked. … Staying together as a team even when it was rowdy and the crowd was really loud, that really helped us.” — Zoey Sullivan-Brennan