By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

RUMFORD – Fans from far and wide packed Puiia Gymnasium Thursday night hoping to see a repeat of last month’s double-overtime thriller between Dirigo and Mountain Valley.

What they ended up seeing was an offensive clinic by the Falcons.

Mountain Valley roared out to an early lead, then rolled to a 75-40 win to sweep the season series with its MVC rivals. The Falcons (16-0) eked out the first one, 60-59.

“Tonight’s game was probably the best all-around game we’ve had,” Mountain Valley coach Dave Gerrish said. “We shot the ball well, we defended well and we rebounded well.”

The Falcons caught the Cougars (12-3) back on their heels early and attacked. Dirigo missed seven of its first eight shots and its first five free throws. Travis Fergola and Dean McCrillis came off the bench to spark an 11-2 run for the Falcons.

Fergola tallied two points, a steal and three assists in the quarter, including a nice feed from the baseline to Owen Jones as Jones streaked down the other side of the lane for a layup that made it 17-8. McCrillis chipped in with a putback and a baseline jumper to close the quarter and the Falcons had a 21-8 lead.

Mountain Valley seemed to smell blood heading into the second period, so they stepped on the gas pedal. The Falcon big men, led by Andy Shorey (nine points, 10 rebounds, eight assists) looked up the floor immediately after every defensive rebound, and it usually paid dividends. D.J. Gerrish (six points) converted back-to-back hoops off the fast break as part of an 11-3 run to begin the quarter.

“(The big men) box out well and do the fundamentals well, and that helps us every time out,” Gerrish said.

“We worked on (getting points in transition) in practice,” said senior guard Marcus Palmer. “If you could get a lay-up, get a lay-up. If you don’t, you can pull it back. The big men are trailing and you can give it to them for a lay-up.”

Or, you can pull it out and give it to someone hanging out by the 3-point arc, which the Falcons also did effectively. Jones, Shorey and Palmer drilled three straight treys late in the half to extend the lead to 41-19. They made all five of their 3-point attempts in the quarter on their way to shooting 64 percent for the half and taking an insurmountable 44-21 lead into halftime.

“We don’t want to live and die by the three, but we don’t mind getting it,” Gerrish said.

The Falcons ended up shooting 63 percent from the floor for the game, the Cougars just 22 percent. Palmer led the bombardment with three trifectas on his way to a game-high 21 points.

“I’ve been struggling so bad. I needed a game like this just to boost my confidence up,” Palmer said. “Thank God they went in tonight.”

McCrillis added 13 points and Fergola eight. Chris Richards led Dirigo with 10 points.