RUMFORD – Change is rarely ever easy.

Even though the Mountain Valley girls’ basketball team had much of its roster returning this year, it still had key holes to fill.

Not only did Christie Volkernick and Tanya Martin each graduate but the Falcons also lost a starter that had been groomed all summer. She decided not to play just prior to the start of the season.

So even though Mountain Valley’s 4-2 start is a bit surprising, it isn’t when you consider the changes the team has experienced.

“It hard because 4-2, I don’t think that’s indicative of the way we expected our season to be,” said Mountain Valley coach Rich Allen, whose team went 16-3 last year before losing in the Western B quarterfinal. “We miss our point guard (Martin) from last year. That’s been a huge role to fill. I think Lauren Lepage is doing a great job. We had a girl that was a starter all summer that decided not to play. So we had some roles to fill, and we only had two weeks to do it. I think we’re starting to find a mix that’s working together pretty well.”

That showed Saturday in a decisive 64-29 win over Georges Valley. The Falcons jumped on the Bucs early and produced a complete effort.

“I think we’ve improved a lot,” said senior forward Meagan Maifeld. “We still have a ways to go.”

Maifeld led the Falcons with 16 points. Ayla Allen added 12 off the bench and Vanessa Cayer chipped in 11 in the post.

Mountain Valley hit its first four shots and five of its first seven and built a double-digit lead early. Cayer had seven points during that stretch. The Falcons moved the ball effectively, got points in transition, scored off the press and executed nicely in the halfcourt.

“It’s better now that we know how each other is,” said Maifeld. “We had to fill those two spots that we didn’t have from last year. Now that we know how they play, we can kind of go with them. I think the comfort level is getting a lot better.”

The Falcons defense gave the Bucs fits. Georges Valley got eight points from Bethany Snow and six from Jessica Veilleux. The Bucs had nearly 30 turnovers, 15 in the first half, and shot just 4-for-17 in the first half.

“I think we have a good mix,” said Allen. “I have a team that plays well in the halfcourt. They’re big, and they’re kind of lumbering, but they play pretty decent halfcourt man-to-man. Then I have another mix I can press with. I didn’t have that at all the first part of the season.”

Mountain Valley depth was evident against the Bucs. The Falcons went 10 and got contributions all through the lineup. The starting five of Maifeld, Cayer, Lepage, Taylor Smith and Emily Knapp dominated early. When Allen mixed up his lineup with subs, the Falcons never let down. In addition to Allen’s 12 points, McKenzie Paterson, Lindsay Grant and Krista Lee all chipped in with baskets off the bench while Shawnee Akers had solid minutes.

“It’s something different,” said Allen. “We’ve always played six or seven. That’s usually as deep as we could go. Now we can go a lot deeper.”

After building the 17-5 lead in the first quarter, thanks to an 8-1 finish, the Falcons doubled the lead in the second. Mountain Valley had a 12-2 spurt that made it 29-9. LePage, Allen, Grant, Maifeld and Smith all scored during that stretch and built a 35-11 halftime lead.

“We’ve got more options now than we had (at the beginning of the season),” said Allen. “The starting five we didn’t have back anymore from the summer, we had two weeks to try and find out what we we’re going to do. I think we can only get better.”