Mountain Valley’s Leigha Carrier (15) holds onto the ball after falling to the floor during a Mountain Valley Conference game in Rumford on Friday night. (Sun Journal photo by Tony Blasi)

RUMFORD — The Mountain Valley Falcons rained on Mt. Abram’s parade from the perimeter and then turned up the heat on defense in the second half.

The Falcons (10-3) laid down a barrage of nine 3-pointers and shook off the stubborn Roadrunners (6-10) with a 68-48 victory in a Mountain Valley Conference girls’ basketball game Friday night.

There was a whole lot of shoving and players being knocked to the floor, but it was the Falcons who stood up, especially in the third and fourth quarters.

The ’Runners were relentless in the first half before the Falcons fell back to the outside and began dropping 3s.

“We haven’t been shooting well lately,” Mountain Valley coach Craig Milledge said. “It was nice to get that back a little bit and we gave up too many points tonight. I don’t think we played our best game defensively, so it is a good thing we shot well.

“I think the second half was a much better effort than the first. I think we had some breakdowns defensively in the first half … gave them some fast-break layups, some wide-open jumpers.”

Milledge pointed out that the Falcons’ intensity in the second half made a big difference, especially with Mt. Abram’s Summer Ross playing tough inside the paint.

“Ross is tough when the ball is in her hands,” he said. “We tried our best to make sure she couldn’t touch it.”

By halftime, Mountain Valley was on top 37-29 thanks to pinpoint perimeter shooting and several fast breaks.

Sophomore guard Rylee Sevigny was responsible for four of those nine 3-pointers and ended scoring the game-high 25 points. She also delivered from the charity stripe, going 3-for-4. Junior Avery Sevigny was good for 13 points and went a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

Ross, who reached 1,000 career points in the Roadrunners’ last game, led Mt. Abram’s offense with 19 points, followed by sophomore Kaylee Knight’s 10 points.

“The first half, and even three quarters, I thought we were still there being down by eight,” Mt. Abram coach Larry Donald said. “I think we just ran out of steam.”

Donald credited Mountain Valley’s press with disrupting his team’s offense.

“They double-teamed almost every time somebody turned their back for a second,” Donald said. “We lost the ball.

“And I only played six tonight, and the girl that is on crutches — Maddy Phelps — up until she got hurt, she’s been our best rebounder. So if I could get her in the rotation, because we were controlling the boards early, we were in the game and we started to lose a little bit of a grip on that.”

Mt. Abram’s Summer Ross (23) drives to the hoop at Mountain Valley’s Saydie Garbarini (13) tries to intervene as teammate Kierstyn Lyons (14) looks on during a Mountain Valley Conference game in Rumford on Friday night. (Sun Journal photo by Tony Blasi)

Mt. Abram’s Summer Ross (23) dribbles down the court as Mountain Valley’s Avery Sevigny (23) pursues during a Mountain Valley Conference game in Rumford on Friday night. (Sun Journal photo by Tony Blasi)

Mt. Abram’s Ashlyn Sorel (30) tries to drive to the basket, but Mountain Valley’s Courtney Carrier (31) gets in the way during a Mountain Valley Conference game in Rumford on Friday night. (Sun Journal photo by Tony Blasi)

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