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BANGOR — The reward for doing your work well is more work.
That was the thought running through Gardiner coach Aaron Toman’s mind after the Tigers knocked of Hermon 50-33 in a Class B North boys basketball semifinal Wednesday afternoon at Cross Insurance Center.
“Selfishly for me, being a player for the program and coming back and having the opportunity to coach in my hometown — very, very special,” said Toman. “We had some lean years not too long ago, so it just means a whole heck of a lot to not only myself but the boys who’ve stuck through with it, the community. And I’m just really, really proud for our togetherness and our resilience.”
The Tigers (16-3) will play top-seeded Cony in the regional final at 8:45 p.m. Friday at the Cross Insurance Center.
Two players who stuck through those lean years with Toman were senior Brady Atwater and junior Trace Moody, who paced Gardiner with 14 and 12 points, respectively, against Hermon.
Now, like their coach did back in 2012, the last time the Tigers won a tournament game prior to this season, they’re writing their own playoff history.
“You’ve dreamed about this since you were a little kid watching high school basketball, and to be actually here is surreal,” Moody said.
Through the first three quarters, there wasn’t much rhythm to the game. Hermon had an answer every time Gardiner went on a run.
The through line for the Tigers, however, was their ability to score on the fast break. What was just a four-point lead heading into the fourth quarter turned into a 17-point margin.
“We prioritize transition over basically anything,” Moody said. “Once we get out, we know we can outrun any team in our conference, basically.”
Another key for Gardiner was Atwater’s aggressive play in the second half.
After scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in a quarterfinal win over Erskine Academy, Atwater excelled on defense against the Hawks.
“To be honest, it wasn’t much of my offensive performance tonight, it was more of our defensive performance,” Atwater said. “We just needed to keep our defensive performance up in all of our matches and just keep bringing them as much (defense) as we can.”
