RUMFORD — There was plenty of twist and turns along the way as the Mountain Valley girls’ basketball team extended its win streak to six Thursday at Puiia Gymnasium.

Point guard Lindsay Gallant scored a game-high 11 points and directed the flow as the Falcons stepped up defensively for a 41-18 triumph against Mt. Abram.

Class B Mountain Valley (10-4), No. 5 in Heal points, established control early and exercised patience by moving the ball around in front of the Roadrunners zone. The game boiled down to a series of mini runs, and the Falcons were able to eventually pull away.

“I’m satisfied overall,” MV coach Rich Allen said. “But we struggled against their zone and at times the girls got caught listening to the crowd who thought the play was boring. We are young, but I told the players when they are mature they will look forward to playing against a zone.”

A 7-0 run to end the third quarter provided Mountain Valley with a 26-14 cushion. Emily Knapp (eight points) drained a 3-pointer, Chelsea Bordeau made a pair of free throws and Breana Roberts buried a base-line jumper.

Class C Mt. Abram (1-13) had cut the deficit to 19-14 following baskets by Mykayla Luce and Kylie Rolbiecki (10 points) with four minutes left in the third quarter.

“The kids worked hard,” Mt. Abram coach Doug Lisherness said. “But we are young and the inexperience came out. We’ve had trouble scoring, not just tonight, but all season. If we had made our free throws in the first half, we could have been leading at halftime.”

Mountain Valley sophomore Ayla Allen, who is averaging 16.3 per game, scored seven points because the Roadrunners took away the middle. Allen had scored 28 points the previous night in a 50-39 win at Carrabec.

McKenzie Paterson and Gallant each played solid defense and forced several turnovers which gave the Falcons possessions to run their sets. This allowed Gallant (two treys) to penetrate the lane.

“Lindsay had a good game,” coach Allen said. “We hadn’t (executed) well enough, but in the second half we were able to press and create turnovers with a half-court man-to-man. The kids fed off the energy and it opened up the offense.”

Mountain Valley had come to life in the fourth quarter behind Gallant (five assists), who made a basket and a 3-pointer to take a short-lived lead. But the Falcons missed shots.

Mountain Valley shot 24 percent from the floor and made 11 of 16 free throws. The Falcons scored 16 unanswered points to open the fourth quarter with Gallant, Allen, Roberts, Knapp and Chrissy Briggs each scoring.

Mt. Abram (20 percent shooting) was held without a basket until Dani Smith scored with 2:35 left to play. The Roadrunners had six field goals in the game.

“We kept it close until the middle of the third quarter,” Lisherness said. “Then we had a breakdown and mentally we were not strong enough to recover.”