BANGOR – The Gardiner boys basketball team arrived at the Bangor Auditorium on Friday afternoon with a considerable amount of young talent, but little in the way of postseason tradition.

The Tigers hadn’t played here since 1997, and had just two tournament wins at the Auditorium since 1960.

“We wanted to show people what we can do,” said forward Craig Toulouse, one of two seniors in a starting lineup that also included two sophomores and a freshman. “We’re a young team, but we can play.”

For proof, just ask No. 3 Brunswick, which took a 3-0 lead but never led again as No. 6 Gardiner earned a 61-49 victory in their Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal.

Gardiner (13-6) will face the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal between No. 2 Oxford Hills of South Paris and No. 7 Cony of Augusta in a regional semifinal at 7:05 p.m. Friday.

Gardiner showed all the poise of a tournament-tested team against Brunswick, controlling the backboards and limiting the Dragons to 35 percent (19 of 54) shooting from the field in ousting the defending Eastern A champs and ending their 15-game winning streak.

“What worked for us was playing tremendous defense,” said 6-foot-7 Gardiner sophomore Sean McNally, who scored a game-high 17 points. “We gave up a little dribble penetration in the first half, but we came in the locker room and coach [Dana Doran] knew what we were doing wrong and we fixed it. We did the best we could in the second half and held all their scorers to minimal points, which is what we were looking to do.”

McNally also blocked five shots and grabbed 15 rebounds, nearly matching Brunswick’s team total as Gardiner finished with a commanding 35-19 advantage on the backboards.

“I tip my hat to Gardiner,” said Brunswick coach Todd Hanson, whose team won 59-42 at Gardiner on Feb. 14. “I never would have guessed such a young team would show such poise on this floor. It was a great game plan by Dana, and those kids executed it.”

Brunswick (18-2) hoped its press would entice Gardiner to play at a faster pace than it preferred, but as the game went on the Tigers used that pressure to their advantage.

Toulouse was the chief beneficiary, scoring four fourth-quarter layups as freshman point guard Kyle Stilphen (seven points, five assists) and senior guard Eric Collins (15 points) solved Brunswick’s defensive scheme.

“Kyle’s been a great addition to our team,” said Toulouse, who finished with 15 points and six rebounds. “Coming in his freshman year and doing what he has done, you can’t ask for anything better out of a freshman point guard. He finds the open man, he can drain shots, and he hustles.”

Gardiner built a 13-point second-quarter lead, but Brunswick rallied as Stilphen sat with two fouls and Brunswick’s Doug Eichinger (11 points, four assists) and Jesse Kaplan (12 points) began to dribble through the Tigers’ 1-2-2 zone.

Brunswick was within 30-22 at halftime, and a 3-pointer by Nick Welch at the end of the third quarter made it 43-40.

That’s as close as the Dragons got, because while Gardiner committed a couple of turnovers early in the fourth quarter, Stilphen soon found open teammates downcourt for layups, particularly Toulouse, who scored three times on feeds from the 5-9 freshman.

A jumper by Jordan Kelly kept the Dragons within 51-47 with 2:49 left, but Toulouse scored inside on a feed from Collins and then took a midcourt pass from Stilphen to extend the margin to eight with less than two minutes left.

TIGERS 61, DRAGONS 49

Gardiner (14-6) Brunswick (18-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Stilphen 3 7 1 3 7 Kaplan 5 8 12

Kelley 1 6 1 2 3 Gauvin 2 7 5

McNally 6 10 5 8 17 Scully 1 7 2

Collins 4 7 5 7 15 Eichinger 4 11 2 3 11

Kallman 2 3 0 0 4 Welch 2 7 6

Lavalle 0 0 0 0 0 Diionne 1 6 2

Brown 0 0 0 0 0 O’Dell 2 3 7

Toulouse 7 10 1 2 15 Kelly 2 5 4

Hale 0 0 0 0

Totals 23 43 13 22 61 19 54 14 49

Gardiner 13 30 43 61

Brunswick 8 22 40 49

3-pt. goals – Gardiner (2-7): Collins 2-3, Stilphen 0-1, Kelley 0-1, McNally 0-1, Kallman 0-1; Brunswick (4-14): Welch 2-5, Gauvin 1-2, Eichinger 1-3, Dionne 0-1, Kelly 0-3