Nearly 15 Years After Losing to Yarmouth, Toman Leads Gardiner to First Title
As a player, Toman lost the 2012 final to Yarmouth; as coach, he beat them for Gardiner’s first state title.
Gardiner's boys basketball team won the first state championship in its history on Feb. 27, defeating Yarmouth in the Class B title game at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, the Bangor Daily News reported.
The win came against the same school that beat Gardiner in the 2012 state final. Toman, now the Tigers' head coach, was a center on that 2012 team, which captured Gardiner's first Eastern Maine regional crown before falling to Yarmouth.
This season's team won the Class B North regional title and then held off South champion Yarmouth down the stretch. Senior guard Brady Peacock scored several baskets in the fourth quarter to keep Yarmouth from catching up.
The Maine Association of Basketball Coaches picked Toman as its Class B North coach of the year for boys basketball. Players credited his confidence in them, and Toman said winning with the team he played for in high school felt like a full-circle moment. He said he loves the community and feels lucky to be able to give back to it.
"I am just so happy for all of them, to be the first group in Gardiner boys basketball history to ever do that," Toman said.
This story was first reported by Bangor Daily News.
