MV boys outlast Ramblers, 42-37

WINTHROP -- It was a different venue, however, the situation proved to be similar for the Mountain Valley boys' basketball team and Zach Radcliffe can certainly relate.

The Falcons were clinging to a one-point lead when the 5-7 guard pulled down his own rebound, returned to the free throw line and calmly sank both shots to remain unbeaten in a lackluster 42-37 win against Winthrop.

Winthrop received a three pointer by Ryan Conant to trail by one-point early in the fourth quarter, but on the ensuing possession Jacob Theriault (11 points) drained a trey to put MV up 36-32. A couple turnovers cost the Falcons, but Izaak Mills' driving basket made it 38-34. The Ramblers made a free throw and Ben Foster scored with 1:30 left to play. Radcliffe (three steals) was fouled and missed the front end of a one and one, however, he followed his shot and was fouled again.

Mountain Valley shot 71 percent from the foul line in the game, especially in the final minute. Radcliffe made two huge foul shots to give us a three-point lead, Theriault finished the game by making two.

“We decided to pull the ball out and make them come out of their zone,” said MV coach Rick White, regarding strategy down the stretch. “Winthrop was happy to sit in a zone and forced us to make outside shots. We had the lead and they had to come out and play us. This allowed us to eat clock and maintain the lead.”

MV led 25-19 at halftime and made adjustment to the offense and tried to focus on help-side defense. Issac Roberts (nine points) started a 7-0 run, in the third quarter. Ryan Nicols stole the ball and Theriault buried a trey. Justin Carter (three blocks) made two free throws and Hanson Gorham had three steals.

Class B Mountain Valley started fast and this game was no exception, opening a 9-2 lead, but allowed everything to slip away.

“We stopped running our offense,” said White. “We were happy to just shoot from outside instead of looking to get to the rim. Cam (Kaubris) sat out the whole game and we lacked his leadership on the court. Mills did a great job trying to put the team on his shoulders however, he struggled shooting tonight. We needed someone else to step up.”