Falcon boys remain unbeaten, 70-42

RUMFORD -- It turned into a battle, however, the Mountain Valley boys' basketball team proved it had the right stuff on Friday night.

The trio of Cam Kaubris, Jacob Theriault and Izaak Mills combined for 57 points and the Falcons picked up the pace in the second half 70-42 triumph against Madison at Puiia Gymnasium.

Class B Mountain Valley, who improved to 10-0, had struggled (six lead changes in first quarter) to find its groove in front of Madison’s zone defense. They led by 11 points on a backside layup by Andrew Child at intermission and proceeded to outscore the Bulldogs by 21-10 in the third quarter, opening up an insurmountable cushion.

The teams traded baskets early, with Mills (16 points, five rebounds, five assists) draining a three pointer and Hanson Gorham converting on an offensive rebound, while Seth Sweet (13 points) kept Madison on pace.

“Our intensity was there defensively in the second half,” said Zach Racliffe, who had four steals, assists and rebounds. “It wasn’t there in the first half, but then our shots started falling and we picked up the intensity.”

The Falcons made 10 of 18 shots in the third quarter. Kaubris caught fire and figured in the final five baskets, including a bullet pass to Mills for a score. Kaubris (26 points, six rebounds, six assists) scored three straight baskets off turnovers. The Bulldogs shot 34 percent, committed 29 turnovers and made eight of 17 from the charity stripe.

“We started to drive more,” said Falcon center Justin Carter, who suffered a cut nose, was rotating in with Gorham to guard Ian Hartigan (17 points, nine rebounds).

“That tended to open up outside shots for Jake (Theriault, 15 points) and it increased our lead dramatically.”

Mountain Valley had missed its first 12 shots from beyond the arc. However, they eventually connected. Mills, Radcliffe and Kaubris each made two shots.

Mountain Valley was missing two players due to illness, so coach Rick White changed rotations and several players received increased court time. The Falcons made 30 of 64 shots and committed 14 turnovers in the game.

“It was different,” said Radcliffe. “Our intensity level hadn’t been there in our previous two games, but our defensive intensity picked up tonight.”