RUMFORD – There’s no secret to the Mountain Valley boys’ basketball team – the Falcons play man-to-man defense and possess a strong passing attack,

But the Falcons failed to follow through with the other aspects of their game, and their shortfalls became evident Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Cam Kaubris and senior Travis Ruff combined for 31 points as the Falcons remained unbeaten while being pushed to the limit in a 48-30 win over Georges Valley at chilly Puiia Gymnasium.

Mountain Valley (5-0) proved to be its own worst enemy by shooting 14 of 61 (21 percent from the floor) and being unable to adjust to the Buccaneers’ physical style. The lead was sliced to eight points with 4:34 remaining, but the Falcons proceeded to score seven of 18 total free throws down the stretch. Kaubris (17 points) scored seven of the final 12 points in the contest, including stealing the ball and feeding Jacob Arsenault for a fast break layup.

“That’s no excuse,” said Kaubris, referring to being manhandled by 6-foot- 5 Keil Gauthier of Georges Valley. “We played a very sloppy game and we can’t allow that to happen. We’ve got to rebound and be able to get on them.”

Georges Valley (2-4) kept pounding the ball inside and Gauthier (12 points, nine rebounds) scored two power baskets and Blake Miller (seven points) drained a 3-pointer to trail 38-30. The Falcons immediately called timeout and the Bucs were unable to maintain the momentum, turning the ball over four times down the stretch.

“I told the guys we needed to be more physical,” Georges Valley coach Tim Simmons said. “We were compared to the first half and the big difference on defense for us was attitude. We needed to cut down on our (37) turnovers.”

The Falcons had used an 11-0 run in the second quarter to take a 22-9 lead. Ruff (14 points) buried a trey and Matt Laubauskas (eight points) grabbed a rebound and fed Ruff for a layup. On the ensuing possession, Laubauskas stole the ball and threw a bullet pass to Kaubris who made a layup.

“(Transition) game is real important,” Ruff said. “We are a smaller team and Georges Valley was big inside, so we need to get the ball out on the wings and run at the same. We need to cut down on our (16) turnovers.”

Georges Valley made 12 of its 30 shots, but made four of 10 free throws. A switch to a 2-3 zone was effective in the third quarter.

The Falcons had led 29-15 at halftime, but they committed seven turnovers and missed 12 straight shots in the third quarter. Laubauskas and Ruff made five free throws, until Chris Day scored off a long rebound at the buzzer. John Benjamin played solid defense.

“We started out slow and didn’t shoot well,” Mountain Valley coach Dave Gerrish said. “The fact that we missed 19 layups in the first half attributed to it. I thought we played good defense, but we did not rebound very well.”