By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

RUMFORD – If you asked the Livermore Falls girls’ basketball team to slow it down, they’d probably just play a little less fast.

The Andies may not have the word “slow” in their vocabulary. They play a brand of basketball that runs at full throttle. The aggressive style brings with it foul problems and some rushed plays offensively, but the Andies showed that the payoff can be beneficial in a 64-55 win over Mountain Valley Monday night.

The Andies plays full tilt defensively, throwing caution to the wind at times.

“That’s our strength and our weakness,” said Andies coach Frank Donald. “I’ve told them the style of ball we play, we’re probably going to get more fouls than the other team, but we’re going to get a lot of good things out of it.”

The Andies had three players with four fouls by game’s end Monday night and two others with three each, but Livermore Falls managed to play disciplined enough to boost its record to 2-0.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” said Livermore Falls guard Taryn Flagg, who led all scorers with 14 points and played the final 13-plus minutes with four fouls. “We knew we had to get this game so we could get the points we needed and start out on the right foot. We wanted to show people that we’re a bigger and better team than last year.”

The Andies forced over 30 Falcon turnovers as Mountain Valley struggled to keep pace. It left little opportunity to shake off the opening-night rust.

“Having the bye and then having a game is a huge disadvantage,” said Mountain Valley coach Wade McLaughlin. “They got to try things and got to see how things are going to work. They got to work on their press and see live competition. We had a scrimmage last Tuesday and haven’t seen anybody in a different color jersey since then.”

The Andies also got 11 points from Rachel Ventrella and Jenika Kelley and 10 from Marjorie DeBrosky, who also had eight rebounds.

Kristen Arsenault led the Falcons with 21 points while Tanya Martin added 11.

Despite 12 turnovers in the second quarter, the Falcons managed to get within 31-30 at the half. Livermore seized control to start the second half with nine straight points. Flagg scored off a steal, and Kelley added a hoop. Ventrella drilled a 3, and Lacey Hazelton followed with a bucket off an inbounds pass.

“That was clutch,” said Flagg. “The first three minutes of every half, you have to go out there and play your best. We were just going out with our A’ game, and it felt good.”

The Falcons missed their first five shots of the second half and didn’t get a field goal until 2:46 remained in the quarter. Mountain Valley managed to stay within six entering the final stanza, but a 7-1 run to start the fourth pushed the lead to 12. Ventrella had four of those points.

The Andies scrappy defense kept the Falcons off balance while Livermore managed to execute well enough offensively to maintain the lead.

“We love playing defense,” said Flagg. “Our coach really emphasizes defense, and we really take it to heart.”