JAY – At halftime, it looked like it was destined to be another last-second nail-biter in the Mountain Valley Conference.

But the Mountain Valley Falcons had other ideas. After losing to Jay early last month, the Falcons avenged that loss with an impressive second half and a 46-36 victory Monday. It was the eighth straight win for the Falcons.

“We lost the last time, and we just wanted the chance to get them back,” said senior forward Taylor Smith. “We were more confident in ourselves and know we work hard and deserve to win. No one was scared before the game like we were the first time. No one was nervous. We were confident.”

Mountain Valley used a 10-2 run to open up the lead and wore down the Tigers in the second half.

“They’ve been playing good for a long time,” said Mountain Valley coach Rich Allen. “We had the hiccup when Jay came to Mountain Valley, but we’ve been playing good basketball. The last few games, we’ve been playing with more confidence.”

The win earns the Falcons a spot in the MVC championship game next Monday. If Jay beats Telstar Wednesday, it will be a rematch with the Tigers. After playing three tough games in four nights, Jay might welcome another shot at Mountain Valley in a rubber game.

“It’s been a rough three-game stretch for us,” said Jay coach Chris Bessey. “We had a very emotional game against Livermore Falls, obviously. Mt. Abram was Saturday. It’s a tough position they put us in scheduling. That’s what I was worried about.”

Smith led the Falcons (14-3) with 11 points while Lauren Lepage had 10. Vanessa Cayer and Emily Knapp added nine and eight respectively. Jay (13-4) got 13 from Liz LeBlanc and 11 from Hillary Deane.

After a 19-19 tie at the half, the Falcons roared out of the gate in the third quarter. Mountain Valley hit seven of its first eight shots while holding Jay to a 1-for-9 to start.

“We knew we wanted to get a quick lead in the third quarter if we were going to win it,” said Smith, who had seven in the quarter. “We’re a second half team. We come out better in the second half. We came out pumped and on a roll.”

Knapp started the half with a 3-pointer. After Deane put back a rebound, the Falcons ran off seven straight. Meagan Maifeld scored on a drive. Smith hit a short jumper and followed with a three-point play for a 29-21 lead.

“The more games we win, the more confident we get in our ability,” said Smith. “We’re playing really good as a team right now.”

Jay got a free throw from Deane with 4:25 left, but the Falcons ran off another six straight. Lepage hit a pull-up jumper in transition. Smith scored on a press-breaker, and Lepage added another hoop on the fast break.

“They played well,” said Bessey. “Lepage did a great job getting the ball down the floor in transition. They were very aggressive taking the ball to the basket.”

Jay was down 37-26 after three and could only get as close as 37-28 after a Deane rebound to start the fourth. After shooting 3-for-11 in the third, the Tigers shot 4-for-17 in the fourth. The sudden deficit forced the Tigers to press offensively and get away from the ball movement that worked well in the first half.

The Falcons scored seven straight on baskets by Knapp, Lepage and McKenzie Paterson to build a 44-28 lead before Jay trimmed it in the final minutes.

“Especially early in the season, if a team made a run on us, we normally couldn’t recover,” said Allen. “I think now, we can. They made a little run and we came back and tied it up. Then we were able to get that streak together.”