Tiger Town

When the Game of the Day delivers, it delivers.

The Gardiner girls took their perfect record to the House that Cindy Built to take on Maddie Provost and the Lawrence Bulldogs. Provost returned to the lineup after missing a game with an injury and went right back to it, scoring 21 points and banking in a three to beat the third quarter buzzer and cut Gardiner's lead to one.

If you've ever been to a game at Folsom Gymnasium, you know it can get loud for a normal game, but for a big game it can get deafening. It's one of the better home court advantages in the state. So when the game was tied with 1:48 to go, you had to assume that there'd be a possession where Provost would have the ball in her hands with a chance to win the game.

Instead, Gardiner ripped off an 8-0 run, an emphatic statement on the road to close out a 55-50 win, easily their biggest victory of the year, and one that puts them in control of the 1 seed in B North.

Mike Mandell was there.

Gardiner girls basketball outlasts Lawrence to stay unbeaten

An 8-0 run down the stretch powers the Class B North-leading Tigers past the Bulldogs.

Centralmaine.comMike MandellStaff Writer

Not to be outdone, in the boys game, Lawrence thought they were about to take Gardiner to overtime until Brady Peacock called GAME.

Peacock finished with 20 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists.

I'm not the resident Gardiner historian, but this probably sits pretty high on the Gardiner basketball best regular season days rankings.

Peacock was equally impressive Friday night in the win over Hermon. I put together an edit.

Addison Cyr is now Mattanawcook's all-time leading scorer.

I went to Morse @ Medomak, which was the only game on the schedule I could get to after work.

Medomak's defense was the story here, forcing a multitude of Morse turnovers and scoring in transition.

Mason Nguyen had 19, Micah Fagonde hit a couple threes, and Kollin Donlin added 19 and this blocked shot.

Elsewhere

Gage Mattson had 20 and Jack Fontaine added 17 in Maranacook's win over Boothbay...Brennan Mitchell went off for 34 as Mount Abram doubled up Lisbon...Braden Dubuc had 21 and Oak Hill overcame 24 from Graham Huri to beat Winthrop...Thea Laukka led Camden with 18 in their win over Cony...Sarah Davoe had 18 in Buckfield's win over Telstar...Owen Kelvey had 17 and Spruce pitched a first quarter shutout against Dirigo...Buckfield’s Trenton Haskell scored 24 but it wasn't enough as Telstar prevailed in double overtime. Cooper Morgan and Alex Doughty each scored 20 for the Rebels...Pine Tree's Collin Verrill dropped 23 on Temple...Ayanna Lester led Katahdin with 15 in a win over Van Buren...Central Aroostook's Harleigh Allen dropped 25 on East Grand...Cruze Casavant had 16 in Presque Isle's win over Houlton...Bryten Hartsgrove dropped 24 in Katahdin's win over Van Buren.

The podcast is back after a layoff for dumb reasons. Turns out it can be tricky to schedule when people have games and/or practice every night and there holidays and everything. Anyway, we're back!

Jay Baines is on for a 2-parter that asks, what if the tourney started today?

Big news in football.

Spencer has made a massive impact in his two seasons at Falmouth and has been more than generous when this basketball nerd has stood on his sideline.

Here's hoping he's on to bigger and better things.

Dunk technicals are back in the news this season, because we can't have nice things.

Travis Lazarczyk wrote a column about it for Varsity Maine

We have a way of taking high school sports too seriously, as if there’s a sanctity that needs to protected. Please. The life lessons taught by high school sports revolve around competing with dignity and giving your best no matter the situation. The lessons shouldn’t include “there’s always somebody eager to strip away your joy.” That’s learned enough places.

There's an element of people saying, "well, that's the rule." Ok, but the rule sucks. And it's not a rule that has to be called. This isn't traveling or a block/charge or a real rule. This is subjective. In other states they just don't call it. Because there's no victim and I'm willing to bet the opposing coach isn't screaming at the refs to call it. Just pretend you didn't see it. Let the kids play!

Here's Travis' full column:

Dunking technicals reignite an old Maine hoops debate

Unless obvious taunting occurs, refs should let a dunk be a dunk and swallow the whistle.

The Portland Press HeraldTravis LazarczykColumnist

The "pink games" have become a staple around the state. You've probably seen them by now. Schools get an alternate pink jersey they wear once a year and the game functions as a fundraiser for a cancer charity. Sometimes the opposing team will throw in a dash of pink themselves--socks, ties, headbands, etc.

In midcoast Maine, one of the big ones is Medomak's "Paws for the Cause". If you're in the midcoast, I highly recommend it. And if you aren't, please seek out one closer to you and join the cause.

In the preseason, there was a consensus that A South Girls would be one of the harder regions in the state and so far, at least the top 4 has delivered.

If you look at the Tourney Odds, Cheverus has a stranglehold on the 1 seed. Sanford and South Portland are battling for the 2 seed, with the loser hoping to not fall to the 4 seed.

Why do they want to avoid the 4? Well, each team has one loss and that loss is to Cheverus. South Portland lost by 5 at Cheverus on Opening Night. Sanford lost by 17 on December 12th. Since then, they've been lights out. Their closest win was by 12 over Westbrook. And they've done this against the hardest schedule in A South.

As for South Portland, well, they're the champs for a reason. They've got 2 wins by 2 possessions (by 5 over Biddeford and TA). They're 2nd in A South in %Perfect (73.84%) and third in point differential, a whooping 81 points more than Sanford.

These teams are very close in the rankings. Sanford would be a slight favorite on a neutral floor, which means SoPo is favored at home.

Winner gets the inside track on the 2 seed.

The Model's picks for the rest of today's games are after the jump.