Mountain Valley goes scoreless for over nine minutes while falling to Gorham.
AUGUSTA – It was a beginning that didn’t derail the Mountain Valley girls’ basketball team Friday night, but it was a start that plagued the Falcons for much of the evening.
Gorham opened up a quick 9-0 lead as the Falcons struggled to get the offense untracked. Mountain Valley managed to stay within reach for much of its Western B quarterfinal game, but the Rams never relinquished the early advantage in a 39-26 victory.
“It’s amazing how poorly we played and to only lose by thirteen,” said Mountain Valley coach Greig Parr.
The sixth-ranked Falcons (10-9) didn’t score a field goal for the first 9:10 of the contest. Though third-seeded Gorham (15-4) couldn’t put the Falcons away, Mountain Valley never recovered and couldn’t muster the offense it needed.
Kristen Arsenault had 18 of the Falcons’ 26 points and carried the squad for much of the game.
“We really had a great week of practice,” said Parr. “We were fully prepared physically. The only question was the mental portion of the game when you get here. You either have it or you don’t. Our mental toughness didn’t show up on the court.”
The Falcons reached the semifinals for just the third time last year but watched the Rams overcome a late arrival to win their first game at Augusta since 2000.
Laura Popovics led the Rams with 12 points while Eileen Jenkins added eight.
Though Gorham had a distinct size advantage, the Rams couldn’t cash in. Too many turnovers and missed shots hurt the Rams and prohibited them from padding its early lead.
“We started off well defensively,” said Gorham coach Sherry Sandora, whose team was delayed because of a pep rally, late bus and heavy traffic. Gorham arrived in Augusta late and had to rush through warm-ups. “I think offensively not having the warm-ups hurt us. We were not knocking them down at the beginning.”
Even with the Falcons quick nine-point deficit, when Arsenault hit the Falcons first field goal 1:10 into the second quarter, Mountain Valley was still within five points. A three-pointer by Popovics with 4:01 gave Gorham a 10-point point lead, but the Falcons continued to battle back when Gorham couldn’t finish.
“I said to the team at halftime, we just needed to put the ball in the basket,” said Sandora. “That’s all we needed to do. If you don’t put the ball in the basket, you’re not going to win. That’s all I had to say.”
Back-to-back 3’s by Arsenault in the third quarter had the Falcons within 20-14 with 5:25 left in the third. After two free throws by Debi Drown, a Popovics drive had the lead up to 24-14.
Mountain Valley got a jumper from Tanya Nicols and a 3 from Arsenault to trim the lead, but each time Gorham answered. A press breaker from Ashley Towle and a drive from Eileen Jenkins quickly reestablished Gorham’s momentum. Popovic then started off the fourth quarter with a pair of 3’s that put the lead at 17.
“I think the fear factor effected us,” said Parr. “We just didn’t do the things we did last week in practice or that we did late in the season in the games that we had to win. In the Jay game or the Dirigo game. We played really well and executed on both end of the floor.”
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