HALLOWELL — It was a play that had worked many times before.

So when Hall-Dale needed a a go-to play Wednesday night, Carylanne Wolfington knew just what she wanted to do.

Her first option was to shoot, but if the opportunity arose, she thought teammate Allison Crockett might be open inside. Sure enough, as Wolfington drove through the paint, the Mountain Valley defense followed. Crockett was alone, and Wolfington gave her the pass.

“I was looking for the shot and I saw people collapsing,” said the Bulldog senior. “So I was looking to dish. We’ve had that play before in overtime situations. So I felt like she was going to put it in.”

Crockett not only made the basket but Mountain Valley’s Ayla Allen fouled out on the play with 1:02 left in regulation.  That put Hall-Dale ahead for good. Kristina Buck added two free throws in the final minute to finish off a 48-45 come-from-behind victory.

The Bulldogs were down most of the game and trailed by 40-33 entering the fourth. Hall-Dale finished with a 9-2 run as the Falcons watched helplessly.

“It seems to be  a trend with us,” said Hall-Dale coach Brandon Terrill. “We’ve had some games like that this season where it hung in the balance coming down the stretch, and we had to make plays. We found a way more often than not to make the plays.”

Wolfington finished with 21 points while Crockett added 11 and Buck chipped in nine. Allen led the Falcons with 22 while Christine Briggs added 12.

Hall-Dale (10-2) is ranked second in Western C and would have been worth a wealth of points for a Falcon club that desperately needs them. Mountain Valley entered the season with hopes of earning a spot in the MVC championship game and a tourney berth in Western B. The Falcons (6-5) have now lost three straight and four of their last five.

“We came unglued a little bit at the end,” said Mountain Valley coach Tammy Gallant, whose team is now ranked 11th in Western B and clinging to a tourney berth. “The press breaker, we had some loopy passes that were hurting us.”

It was a disastrous fourth for the Falcons. Mountain Valley turned the ball over 12 times and shot just 1-for-6 from the floor. Allen had all five of Mountain Valley’s points in the fourth. When Mountain Valley tried to stall midway through the quarter, every offensive possession became an adventure.

“We wanted to get them out of their zone and get us to be able to move,” said Gallant. “We were ahead at that point. So we were trying to pull them out and make them play us.”

The Falcons opened the fourth with a 40-33 lead. The Bulldogs went to the press and Wolfington scored five straight and Wendy Goldman added a jumper to make it 40-39. The Falcons had seven turnovers and were 1-for-5 through the first five minutes of the fourth.

Allen hit a 3 with 6:03 left to make it 43-39. It was a huge swing for Mountain Valley but would be the last field goal of the game for the Falcons.

The Bulldogs went to a zone which actually had the Hall-Dale players double teaming the ball on the perimeter. The Falcons struggled to get a shot or move the ball and stalling only played into the Bulldogs hopes.

“I was concerned that Briggs and Allen would get some looks against the zone because they killed us in the first half,” said Terrill. “It was a bit of a gamble going to the zone, but I wanted to take that gamble after Wolfington picked up her fourth foul.”

A Wolfington drive and a free throw by Natasha Brown cut the lead to 43-42 with 4:15 left. After two Allen free throws with 3:39 remaining, the Falcons didn’t score again. Crockett and Wolfington hit single free throws to cut the lead to 45-44.  Then after another Falcon turnover,  the Bulldogs had a chance at the lead.

“With all that hanging on the line, (Wolfington) had the wherewithal to not put that up herself but found her teammate wide open,” said Terrill. “Give Allison Crockett credit as a sophomore. She finished it.”

Both teams were sloppy in the first half and didn’t execute all that well offensively. Though the Falcons did a nice job on the boards and got a few putbacks for baskets, most of their offense came from 3’s. Briggs and Allen combined for six in the opening half. That enabled Mountain Valley to build a 30-26 lead at the half.

“That’s what we tried to focus on in the second half and not let them have so many 3’s,” said Wolfington.

Though Hall-Dale got to within one point in the third, Allen had nine points to end the quarter for the 40-33 lead.  Allen had all but one of Mountain Valley’s  15 second half points.

“Our girls got a tad rattled, but we’ll learn from those mistakes,” said Gallant, whose team plays unbeaten Madison Friday. “We’ll work on that in practice tomorrow.”

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