WINTHROP – Whoever initially said that haste makes waste probably wasn’t a basketball player.

But that was the message Rich Allen tried to instill in his Mountain Valley girls’ basketball team Friday night against Winthrop.

“When we play bad, it’s been because we haven’t been patient offensively,” said Allen. “We usually don’t have any problems breaking presses. We have a senior group that handles that pretty well. It’s once you get it to the halfcourt. They want to make something happen pretty quick. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. For the most part, it doesn’t.”

The Falcons used a more patient and effective approach in the second half and held off a challenge by the Ramblers for a 40-36 win.

“We talked about that at halftime,” said Allen. “It’s something we emphasize – that we need to be more patient. Even if you have the open look, it’s not part of the flow or part of the offense. I don’t mind if they shoot, but shoot out of the flow. For the most part, we did a better job in the second half.”

Lauren Lepage and Vanessa Cayer each had nine points for the Falcons (9-3) while Meagan Maefeld added eight. Lepage did a nice job at the point moving the ball and finding the open player, often exploiting the Ramblers on a backdoor pass for a handful of hoops. Cayer was strong in the post and did a fine defensive job on Winthrop’s Lindsay Gordon, who finished with just nine points. Kelsey Ouellette led Winthrop (8-3) with 15.

The Ramblers shot 8-for-18 in the second half and had 12 turnovers. Winthrop also hit just 10-of-21 from the foul line.

“One thing that hurt us is we didn’t keep pressure on them by making our free throws,” said Winthrop coach Ray Convery. “Because of the way we play, it’s going to take a lot of free throws. If we don’t make them, that hurts. We couldn’t close the gap and make the free throws we needed to.”

Mountain Valley entered the fourth with a 30-27 lead, thanks to a Lepage rebound in the final seconds of the third. Cayer opened the fourth with a three-point play and a quick five-point lead.

Winthrop got baskets by Gordon and Ouellette to cut it to 33-31, but free throws by Maefeld and Emily Knapp opened the lead again.

The Ramblers went over five minutes without a field goal down the stretch. Free throws by Ouellette and Katie Michelsen made it 36-33, but each time the Ramblers had a chance to cut the lead, they turned the ball over or missed free throws. Winthrop tried to get the ball into the post but struggled getting the pass in without a turnover.

“That’s something we still have trouble with,” said Convery. “When the ball gets to the initial point of attack, instead of people screening out and coming towards it, we’re forcing things too much. We’re trying to do the right thing, but it at the wrong time.”

A drive by Lepage made it 38-33 in the final minute, and Lindsay Gallant padded the lead with a free throw. Winthrop got a three-point play by Nicki Scott with 11 seconds left.

“Anytime you can hold it together at the end, that’s what we talked about in the locker room,” said Allen. “It speaks volumes of the maturity. Hopefully good things will come of it as we get closer to the post season.”