RUMFORD – Someone asked Mountain Valley coach Dave Gerrish if he has any benchmarks set for his seemingly indestructible Falcons.
“We have practice tomorrow at 4:15 and it ends at 6:15. Then we practice Friday and then we play (Dirigo) Saturday,” he said.
The Falcons don’t want to get ahead of themselves, even if Saturday night’s contest with next door neighbor and fellow MVC unbeaten Dirigo is worth looking forward to. Wednesday night, a thorough defensive dismantling of Telstar was enough to entertain their tunnel vision.
The Falcons roared out to a 22-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and cruised to an 80-31 win over the Rebels. Jeremy Shorey set the pace with 20 points, eight boards and four steals. Travis Fergola chipped in 14 points, while D.J. Gerrish led a stifling defense with six steals to go with his nine points.
Mountain Valley started and ended the first quarter with 11-0 runs, with only a Stephen McDonnell hoop to break up the monotony five minutes into the game. Telstar (4-4) turned the ball over 11 times in the quarter against the Falcons’ man-to-man.
Jeremy Childs and Byron Glaus combined to shut out Telstar’s all-time leading scorer, Sean Caddigan, in the opening eight minutes. Caddigan had to fight off double-teams all night to finish with 16 points.
The Falcons (7-0) didn’t just pick on Caddigan, even though they were supposed to. Their double-teams spilled over to other Rebels.
“Actually, that was a mistake,” Gerrish said. “We were only supposed to double one guy. We just get a little anxious.”
If that anxiousness translates into denying the passing lanes like an all-pro secondary like it did Wednesday night, it’s not so bad, Childs said.
“We deny the outside, we deny the post, we deny everywhere. So basically, we don’t want anybody to catch the ball,” he said.
Opponents are averaging just 33.3 points per game against that lockdown defense. Mountain Valley has made its reputation on the defensive end, but that is uncharted territory even for them.
“This team is just a lot more scrappy than any other team we’ve had,” said Childs. “We’ve had real solid defensive teams in the past, but we just get after it.”
Gerrish still wants them to get after it a little bit more on the defensive end, starting today at 4:15 p.m.
“We’re halfway there,” Gerrish said. “We can rotate a little better and get a little quicker.”
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