There's not much to complain about if you're a Gardiner girls basketball fan. The Tigers lost a prelim game, 52-51 on a buzzer-beater from Old Town's Rebecca Taylor on Tuesday night, but their effort, particularly in the fourth quarter, was outstanding.

The Tigers looked beaten by the middle of the third quarter as they trailed by as many as 18 points, but they dug deep and found a way to get back into the game, primarily through defensive effort. This is not a gifted offensive team. Genny Garwood is tough in the middle and they have a couple of nice perimeter shooters in Amanda Cray and Victoria Lovely, but the Tigers have trouble creating their own shots, making their comeback all the more impressive.
Cray went down on a hard foul with 46 seconds remaining and left the game with a knee injury. It would have been easy for her to sit out the rest of the game, but she returned to make two free throws with seven sconds left to give Gardiner a one-point lead. Her effort mirrored that of the whole team. Yes, everyone wanted that trip to the tournament in Bangor, but this wasn't such a bad way to go out.