His Eagles have started the season 7-2 going into the new year despite losing much of the offensive pop from last year's successful team.
Gardner freely admits that this year's Newberry Academy team isn't equipped to win games in the 80s, but it's getting victories in other ways.
“I feel good about what we're doing,” Gardner said. “We're just going to have a lot of close games because we're just not a great offensive team. We know who we are and who we're not.”
The Eagles easily took care of Richard Winn Academy in the first game of the Newberry Academy Christmas Shootout but fell 59-39 to Whitmire in the final game Saturday.
Newberry Academy fell behind big in the first quarter, but managed to keep the game respectable for the final three quarters.
“We got ourselves down in a hole in the first quarter and pretty much, it was a 15-20 point ballgame from there,” Gardner said. “We played with them for the final three quarters pretty good. After we adjusted to their quickness we did pretty good.”
The Eagles have only played two home games leading up to the Christmas Shootout, but will play five of their next six games in their gym.
They will host King Academy for their homecoming game in a rematch of an early season classic.
Newberry Academy outlasted King in a three overtime marathon on the road that included several clutch game-tying or game-winning shots.
Forward Chris Smith has been the Eagles' main weapon on offense, scoring in double-figures in most of the games so far.
Gardner knows he'll need more players to contribute offensively if his team expects to make another run towards a SCISA Class A championship.
“(Smith) has been doing most of the scoring for us this season,” Gardner said after the Eagles' victory Friday against Richard Winn Academy. “He can get points when we need them, but we need to get other players going offensively. We need other players to consistently give us points. We're just not an offensive team. We create our offense with our defense.”
The Eagles have a deep bench, playing nine of 10 players a game. Gardner substitutes freely and expects his team's depth to be a huge strength as the season goes on.
“I can't pick a best five, and I don't think at anytime in the season, I'll be able to pick one,” Gardner said. “We're going to keep playing with the lineup, and give kids the chance to play and maybe find good combinations.”
The Eagles' rematch Friday against King Academy will be the last of a quadrupleheader between the schools. The middle school girls will face off at 4 p.m., followed by the middle school boys, varsity girls and varsity boys.
The Newberry Academy alumni game will take place Saturday.
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