BIDDEFORD – Tuesday night was one to remember for Biddeford senior Bobby Cote. The Tigers’ (7-8) captain electrified the packed gymnasium as he scored a season-high 33 points in his team’s stunning 69-62 win over the Bonny Eagle Scots (12-3). CJ Autry scored 23 points for the Scots in the losing effort.

There is a distinct difference between swagger and confidence. Confidence implies that a person has belief in his or her own abilities; swagger carries a more effortless connotation. That’s what Cote possessed Tuesday night.

“Well, you got to have confidence with your shots,” said Cote in response to his dagger at the end of the third quarter-a bomb from just inside the half-court line-that seemed to dazzle everyone but the game’s top performer. “You get tired playing against (Bonny Eagle), I was just trying to save my energy for the fourth quarter rather than jumping around.”

Cote’s prayer at the end of the third was his sixth and final 3-pointer on the evening.

‘Tonight I was shooting well,” said a smiling Cote. “Every night is different though. Last game, I couldn’t hit a shot at all. Sometimes you just got to keep shooting and some of them are going to go in. Today was one of those days.”

While Cote stole the show, he was far from the only player firing darts from the outside. The Tigers converted 13 3s on the night, accounting for 39 of their 69 points.

“We had a couple of kids hit some big 3s early in the game and we got off to a great start,” said Tigers’ coach Mike Fecteau. “We’ve had some games where we’ve had open looks, but shots just weren’t falling. But tonight we hit some big shots.”

The Tigers’ hot shooting allowed them to race out to a 19-16 first quarter lead in front of their rowdy home fans. They carried their hot shooting into the second quarter and stretched their narrow lead to a more comfortable seven-point advantage heading into halftime.

Although the Biddeford offense was able to light up the scoreboard, it was their defense that allowed them to stretch their lead as they contained Bonny Eagle senior guard, Cole Libby, who was shut out in the first half.

“(Libby) got into foul trouble early,” said Fecteau. “I think when you’re playing with three fouls, it takes you out of your offensive game. I give a lot of credit to my guys. I thought we played pretty good defense and played hard.”

The halftime break did little to slow the Tigers’ shooting as they erupted for five more 3-pointers in the third quarter, including two by Cote. Dustin Cole hit two 3s for the Scots in the quarter, but it did little for his team as the Tigers seemed willing to get into a shootout, trading their own 3-pointers for contested layups by the Scots.

With the Scots struggling to close down on open Tiger shooters, tempers began to flare on the Scots’ sidelines as Bonny Eagle coach Phil Bourassa grew more and more outraged with his teams’ lack of hustle and some questionable calls from the referees.

Cote’s last-second 3 did little to calm his nerves as he saw his team head into the fourth trailing 55-44.

Bourassa’s heated questioning of the game’s officiating earned him a technical foul less than two minutes into the fourth, sending Cote to the line.

Bourassa wasn’t the only one frustrated with the officiating.

Libby, who was held to only two points on the night, was also issued a technical foul in the fourth, which forced him to sit for the remainder of the game. With Libby on the bench, it was up to Cole to pick up the slack.

Cole refused to let the Scots go quietly as he scored six points in the final quarter to bring Bonny Eagle to within seven with 4:31 to play. The Scots fed off of the sophomore captain’s leadership and pulled as close as four in the final minutes. Ultimately, it was too little, too late for the Scots.

“When they made a little run at us we could have faltered right there,” said Fecteau. “But we just took care of business.”

With the Scots making a final charge, the Tigers needed to convert on their free throws and that was exactly what they did, hitting12 of 16 attempts in the final quarter, including eight by Cote.

“We got kids who can shoot foul shots,” said Fecteau. “We could have panicked once they turned up the pressure on us, but we took care of the basketball and made the foul shots when needed.”

The Tigers’ poise down the stretch allowed them to clinch a playoff berth with only three games remaining on the season, including a finale against rival Thornton Academy.

While it would be easy for Cote and the Tigers to bask in the glory of their upset victory its business as usual down the stretch.

“I think we definitely build off this,” said Cote. “It doesn’t get too much easier from here. We got three tough games and we just got to build off this one, hopefully gain some confidence and keep going.”