Boys' basketball: Falcons claim MVC title, remain unbeaten

AUGUSTA — How the Mountain Valley Conference should have anointed the antagonist for its boys' basketball championship was a matter of at least minor dispute.

The league's athletic directors settled before the season upon the team that accumulated the most Heal Points in each division. That left the south's Hall-Dale High School as the theoretical sacrificial lamb for the north's Mountain Valley High School in a matchup that harbored hammer-versus-nail promise.

Discuss whether or not Livermore Falls or Dirigo were more deserving of a pass Monday night to Augusta Civic Center, if you wish. What isn't up for debate is that the Falcons have been the tri-county region's finest Class B or C team this winter from start to tournament's eve.

Mountain Valley finished a two-month breeze through its namesake conference with a 54-45 verdict over equally passionate and persistent Hall-Dale.

"It's a piece of wood," said Mountain Valley coach Rick White. "(Football coach Jim) Aylward always says, 'There's only one team leaving here with a piece of wood.' Fortunately it was us."

Cam Kaubris scored 16 points and dished out four assists to lead the Falcons (19-0), who are the No. 3 seed in the Western Class B tournament and will meet No. 6 Lincoln Academy in Saturday's quarterfinals at Portland Expo.

Jacob Arsenault added nine points, six rebounds and four assists. Arsenault also played a pivotal defensive role against Hall-Dale's 1,000-point career scorer, Ryan Leach, who picked up 10 of his game-high 17 points in the second half.

"It feels pretty good. We're the first team in a while to go undefeated and win the MVC championship," said Mountain Valley senior Brady Fergola, who triggered a decisive third-quarter run and finished with six points and seven rebounds. "Hopefully we can keep the momentum into the playoffs."

Mountain Valley won its last MVC title in 2004, prior to the current playoff format. But the school won a Class B state title in '07, emphasizing the larger goal and reinforcing that Monday's exhibition was, well, precisely that.

Fergola scored the first four points in a 13-5 run out of the locker room that accelerated a 26-15 halftime lead to 39-20.

Arsenault, Adam Bedard, Kaubris and Ryan Laubauskas also cashed in during a run that was typical of the up-and-down, all-hands-on-deck style the Falcons adopted this year.

"This was a big for us, because if we didn't win, all the boo-birds were going to come out and say that isn't going to work (in the playoffs)," White said. "I've had people come out lately and tell me they didn't expect it to work the way it has."

Let it be known that Hall-Dale (11-8) turned out to be more than a sparring partner.

The Bulldogs hovered as close as seven, 43-36, thanks to an 11-0 surge capped by Brandon Gilbert's put-back with 7:27 remaining.

Two Arsenault free throws and Kaubris' backdoor cut for two along the right baseline righted the Falcons.

"If it's not falling, we find a way to score," Arsenault said. "It doesn't matter if we're shooting from outside or going to the hoop."

Mountain Valley's frenetic, preferred pace played into its hands even when shots wouldn't fall in the unfamiliar, open-air background.

The Falcons shot only 10-of-34 (29 percent) from the field in the first half. But they made the Bulldogs even less accurate and more discombobulated (24 percent, 15 turnovers) and racked up a healthy lead at the break.

Hall-Dale went nearly five minutes before Zac Plummer's 3-pointer purged the zero from its side of the scoreboard. That followed a run of seven straight points by the Falcons. Kaubris drove for two and drained an open jumper before locating Arsenault for an uncontested 3-pointer from the left corner.

Kaubris also rescued Mountain Valley from a frosty finish to the quarter, hitting two more 10-footers for an 11-5 lead.

Mountain Valley was relentless with its back to the basket in the opening stanza. Kaubris, Fergola, Benjamin and Jacob Theriault each chalked up a steal for the Falcons, who forced eight turnovers in the period and 15 for the half.

"I thought our defensive intensity was excellent in the first half," White said. "We let them back in it and didn't finish as strong as I would have liked."

koakes@sunjournal.com