MVHS to play Falmouth in semifinal

PORTLAND -- It would be unwise to under estimate any opponent and the Mountain Valley boys' basketball teams certainly proved that theory correct when opportunity knocked.

The Falcons received some strong efforts, including a team-high 15 points by Jake Theriault and Ryan Nicols, who also scored

11 points, in a 63-52 win against Spruce Mountain in a quarterfinal game at the Portland Expo last Saturday afternoon.

No. 4 Mountain Valley 13-6 advances to play top-ranked Falmouth in a semifinal game Thursday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

There was mixed feelings entering the playoffs because MV had struggled down the stretch, losing three of its final four game in the regular season. There was two overtime losses, including one at Spruce Mountain and a 71-39 defeat against rival Dirigo on senior night in a regular-season finale at Puiia Gymnasium. However, they were confident things would turn around.

The Falcons relied on their senior leadership to frustrate the youthful Phoenix. Following a 13-13 first quarter, MV started the second quarter by scoring nine straight points and led 27-19 at halftime.

MV crashed the boards, with Milo Jodrey (nine points, nine rebounds) and Nicols (seven rebounds), along with three pointers by Dom Haines, Sean Murphy and Adam Volkernick (10 points).

“We wanted to switch it up as lot,” said Mountain Valley coach Tom Danylik, addressing the media on the 2-3 and 3-2 zones.

"We went between two zone defenses, some man to man. We threw a press in there every now and then for the heck of it."

The strategies worked because Spruce made one field goal (one of 14 shooting) in the second quarter and made 11 of 21 free throws in the game.

"It was definitely the boys being aware of what we wanted to do. And we rebounded great in the first half," added Danylik.

SM was led by Deonte Ring (21 points, four treys) to pull within five points after three quarters, but MV switched gears in the fourth quarter, scoring 24 points to surge ahead. The Falcons made 18 free throws in the game.