Road woes for Lady Falcons

RUMFORD -- The results were mixed for the Mountain Valley girls' basketball team, who struggled through the month of December for various intangibles. However, the team personnel remains confident that things can be turned around.

The Lady Falcons actually had started off on the right foot by breezing by Winthrop in the season opener and it provided an insight on the make-up. The month also concluded on a high note with a win against Telstar at Puiia Gymnasium. Darbi Brown and Makenzie Gallant scored 12 and 10 points in a 68-20 win against Winthrop. The Falcons played its entire roster and every one will have an opportunity to contribute.

“I'm not afraid to use anyone ,” MV coach Tammy Gallant said then and the philosophy has continued.

MV took its show on the road and things didn't turn out as well at they fell behind in a trio of games and simply didn't have enough fire power to rally back. Case in point, trailing 22-1 at Madison. The Falcons did control the third quarter, but they found that falling behind a good makes it extremely difficult to recover.

At Saint Doms, MV fell behind 20-14 after one quarter and four at halftime. "We struggled with their press and had 8 turnovers," said coach Gallant. ''They had two quick guards and we had 10 fouls called on us in the first period, which put them shooting two foul shots right off.''

The Saints were nine for 13 at the line in the first period, which made it very tough to play aggressively. The Falcons made three of 12 free throws in the entire game.

Jena Plourde was able to use her size in the paint, scoring 10 points. Brooke Dolloff had 14 points, 8 rebounds. Darbi Brown injured a bursa sack on her left elbow. The Falcons trailed 47-37 after three quarters, but lost 67-50. Following an extended lay off, MV traveled to Monmouth and scored the first five points, but went very cold from the floor and did not score again until late in the second period.

''We shot 22 percent from the floor for the game, which doesn't help win games," said Gallant , trailed 14-5 after the first. ''Offensively our game plan was to pound the ball inside because they didn't have anyone over 5-8, but defensively we didn't match up when we went big inside.''

Monmouth spread the court, pulling MVs inside girls out of the paint. The Falcons went to a 2-3 zone, but the Mustangs started hitting from the outside. They were quick and scrappy and MV had 25 turnovers and was outrebounded. Sydney Petrie provided a spark in the second half. Dolloff had 15 rebounds.