DIXFIELD – The Mountain Valley High School girls’ basketball team maintained its composure and erased over a decade of frustration Monday night at Defoe Gymnasium.

There was a sense of relief on the face of Lauren LePage, who scored a game-high 12 points in a 42-36 MVC triumph over Dirigo.

“We definitely get up when we play against Dirigo,” LePage said. “It feels really good (that) we finally beat them. Last year the team was younger, but a lot of us are juniors and seniors and we know what to do. We are mentally tougher.”

Class B Mountain Valley (5-2) extended its winning streak to three games and exorcised some demons against their neighboring rival. The Falcons hadn’t beaten Dirigo in 13 seasons, since current athletic director John Bernard led Mountain Valley and Gavin Kane was beginning a golden era with the Cougars.

The biggest question entering the game centered around who could handle the defensive pressure. Falcons senior point guard Tanya Martin passed the test and fed her teammates superbly with a variety of passes.

Mountain Valley maintained a slim lead through out most of the second half and led 37-32 following a power basket by Vanessa Cayer (six points) midway through the fourth quarter.

The Falcons then took the air out of the ball, and Taylor Smith scored on a nifty play with two minutes left in the game. Martin was on the floor, but avoided the traveling call and passed to Cayer, who spotted Smith open in the lane.

Dirigo (5-4) was unable to respond and hurt itself with missed shots and turnovers. A turnaround basket by Carrie Jamison (nine points) pulled the Cougars within 39-34, but that was as lose as they could get.

The Cougars made two of six shots in the fourth quarter.

“We are still making mistakes,” Dirigo coach Reggie Weston said. “We were not sticking to girls on defense, but give the Mountain Valley guards credit. They handled the pressure.”

Dirigo produced a balanced attack with nine points each by Jamison, Jane Hebert and Nikki Kaulback. Ricki Sinclair added five.

Mountain Valley led 23-18 at halftime and maintained the lead as Smith made four baskets in the third quarter. The Falcons made 17-of-33 shots and committed 18 turnovers.

“There has been a lot of growth in this team,” Falcons coach Rich Allen said. “Down the stretch we wanted to weave the ball out front and set up plays with girls going to the basket. This was a great win. They can hold their heads high tomorrow.”

Mountain Valley took a 20-14 lead on baskets by Emily Knapp, Martin and Megan Maifeld (seven points). LePage drained two treys in the first half.

”We were able to take care of the ball,” Martin said. “We didn’t want to throw the ball away. That has happened to us in the past.”