Falcon girls' rally comes up short

RUMFORD -- There is plenty of twist and turns in girls' basketball and the Mountain Valley team experienced highs and lows at Puiia Gymnasium.

Hall Dale relied on the tandem of Taylor Massey and Carylanne Wolfington and the Falcons were unable to rally back in a 44-38 loss to Hall Dale.

The Lady Falcons fell behind by double digits on two occasions. However, they cut the deficit twice on baskets by guards Lindsay Gallant and McKenzie Paterson. Still, it wasn’t enough.

Class B Mountain Valley exercised too much patience at times in front of the Bulldogs zone and also committed 21 turnovers.

“We were just to tentative,” said MV coach Rich Allen, who was anxious to see how the team would respond following a loss to Jay three days earlier. “We had trouble breaking the press early on and then when the ball was in the front court, the shots were there, but we dribbled and ran (motion).”

Hall Dale had taken a 40-30 lead on two treys by Massey (17 points). Mountain Valley pulled within striking distance. Ayla Allen (eight points) made a basket, Paterson scored off a steal and then banked home a runner at the buzzer to trail 40-33 entering the fourth quarter.

“That happened at the start of both halfs,” said coach Allen, regarding the teams shortcomings. “We didn’t get set on offense, but we didn’t really change anything when we came back. It was a case of the opportunities being there.”

MV trailed 22-9 early in the second quarter before it righted the ship, making eight of 16 shots. Allen, Armstrong and Paterson (twice) each scored. Gallant stole the ball and drained a three pointer at the end of the second quarter. The Falcons had scored 24 of 34 points to trail 26-24 at halftime. Chrissy Briggs made a basket and a three pointer, while Allen scored from inside.

Mountain Valley shot 29 percent (16 of 71) and made three of 10 free throws. Hall Dale had scored the first 16 points, led by Wolfington (15 points, 13 rebounds) proved to be unstoppable underneath the basket

The kids worked hard,” said Allen. “Ultimately when you are behind like we were, it all comes down to making (defensive) stops.”