FARMINGTON — Gardiner is fast, tall and whips around a basketball like baseball when it comes to its passing game.
Gardiner’s fast break had some eye-opening moments, too — and the Tigers can shoot as well as play defense.
Mt. Blue was on the receiving end of Gardiner’s barrage and its 75-46 victory in a boys’ basketball game Tuesday evening.
The Cougars (0-2) did get their act together in the last three quarters, but at that point, Gardiner was giving its bench plenty of playing time midway through the second quarter.
“We have been trying to up our intensity. We came out with pretty good defense as the beginning of the half,” Gardiner coach Jason Cassidy said. “We tried to maintain that in the second quarter. You are happy for them when they make a tough run, but you kind of think to yourself your bench guys have to bring that same type of intensity.
“They (Cougars) are down a little bit. They lost some big scorers last year. They will fill those roles. It takes time.”
Junior forward Cole Heaberlin led Gardiner’s charge with 14 points followed by Hunter Chasse’s 12 and Isaiah Magee’s 11 points.
By halftime, the Tigers (1-1) built a 45-25 lead and had the game in hand.
The Cougars were stronger in the second half and strong third quarter, but the damage had been done.
“We have trouble starting games and we have to figure out what do,” Mt. Blue coach Brian Kelly said. “One of the guys just said it in there (locker room, ” We spend a lot of time on defense. We need to work more on offense.
“James Anderson, who we were counting on, got hurt in a pregame warmup against Nokomis on Friday last week, so we are hoping to have him back Saturday.
“I thought we played with intensity in the third quarter. I credit Gardiner for doing a fantastic job handling the pressure and shooting the lights out. I want to give the other team credit because they played a heckuva game.”
Garrett Reynolds had the hot hand for the Cougars, scoring 11 points. Marshall Doyon scored nine points. But the Tigers kept up the pressure and built a hefty 61-38 lead going into the fourth quarter.
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