Biddeford’s Carter Edgerton works past Sanford’s Ethan Shain on Friday. ALEX SPONSELLER/ Journal Tribune
The Tigers were consistent on both ends of the floor throughout the contest, and outscored the Spartans in each quarter to maintain control from nearly start to finish.
“(Biddeford is) just a real smart team. They play hard, they play together, they always finish quarters strong, always finish halves strong. They’re a well-coached team and you can tell they all trust one another, they’re the second-place Class A team for a reason,” said Sanford coach Ryan Martin after the loss.
Biddeford would take a 34-23 lead in the first half, dominating the paint and making the most of its second chances to mount the lead.
Cody Saucier drove the offense in the first half, shooting well and scoring 13 of his game-high 18 points in the first two quarters.
“I thought we got a couple of key offensive rebounds and putbacks. When you give those up on the other side it’s tough, those are tough points to give up. We went through a cold spell there for a little bit but we were able to get enough offensive rebounds and putbacks to keep us going,” said Biddeford coach Justin Tardif. “We made a couple of 3s in the first, a couple of 3s in the fourth and that really kept us going. It makes the game a lot easier when you make those outside shots.”
The Spartans would tighten things up in the third quarter and held Biddeford to just 11 points. Sanford would press the Tigers while making key shots to keep the game competitive heading to the fourth quarter.
The Tigers would catch fire in the final eight minutes, getting scores from five different players and outpacing Sanford 19-9 the rest of the way.
DeSean Cromwell added 14 points for the Tigers while Jackson Oloya chipped in 10 and Carter Edgerton eight. Mat Romano led Sanford with 10 points while C.J. Lamontagne added eight.
Tardif was impressed with Sanford’s fight, especially in the tight third quarter.
“They definitely were more in our face (in the third). It took us a little too long to adjust to it. I thought there were a couple of possessions where we were trying to grab the loose ball and dribble at the same time … we were trying to do too much,” said Tardif. “They’re a feisty team, Ryan has done a really good job, they always just hang around. You get up 10 on them then bang, they hit a 3-pointer. They did it again and it was a game I was concerned about because they’re really gritty.”
Despite the loss, Martin feels that his team is trending in the right direction and has shown promise down the stretch. Martin hopes to see the Spartans improve their ball security moving forward.
“I don’t think we’re far from being where we want to be. We have to do a much better job of taking car of the basketball,” said Martin. “If we turn the ball over 25, 30 times a game then we’re losing all of those chances to score. Not only that but those turnovers make it easy offensively for the other team. I think a large part of why we lost tonight was because we didn’t take care of the ball.”
The Tigers improve to 10-3 on the season, and Tardif believes the Tigers are playing their best basketball of the season.
“It’s good, this is the time where you want to be playing your best basketball and we are,” said Tardif. “It’s fun playing teams twice because you can see your improvement, and our last three games against Marshwood, Falmouth and Sanford we definitely have played better.”
— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at asponseller@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
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