AUGUSTA — Giving up a home game can be a pretty significant sacrifice, but it appeared to be a pretty savvy calculation on Ryan Casey’s part.
The Mountain Valley coach brought his Falcons to the Christmas tournament at the Augusta Civic Center back in December. The Falcons played a regular season game against Madison and also played Oxford Hills.
“We gave up a home game to play on this floor,” Casey said. “We knew getting a little exposure might help. They are very young. We’ve seen them play with nerves and play like eighth graders and we’ve seen them play like seniors. Luckily, tonight, they played with a lot of composure. They handled the pressure well, spread the ball around and they played like basketball players and it was fun to watch.”
The Falcons took to the ACC floor again Tuesday and looked like they’ve been here before, even though it was the largest stage on which any of the Falcons have performed. Mountain Valley showed few jitters and got the quick jump on Old Orchard Beach in a 41-27 win.
“Our last experience here was probably our best game,” sophomore forward Ashley Russell said. “So we just came in knowing that we’d be nice and calm.”
The win was the first Mountain Valley quarterfinal victory since 2009 and just the fourth ever. The Falcons (14-5) have now won 11 or its last 12 games.
“Going on to the next game is a big thing for us,” said sophomore guard Emily Laubauskas. “We knew we had to stay together this year. It’s so great to come out in this game and win.”
Laubauskas led the Falcons with 10 points while Russell had nine. Karen Flaherty added seven while Liz White chipped in six.
“Our team all year long has three players that averaged 10, nine and eight points,” Casey said. “We spread the ball around and try to be unselfish. It’s old school basketball. We want to pass first and find the open man. There’s no one on this team that’s selfish. There’s no one on this team that wants to score more than they want to play as a team.”
While the Falcons looked calm and relaxed in the new environment, OOB (14-4), who played in the quarters last year, struggled. The Sea Gulls have won just one quarterfinal since 2001. OOB started 0-11 and finished 1-for- 13 in the first quarter and 1-for-20 in the second. That led to a 14-point deficit by halftime.
“I thought for the most part we stuck to our game plan,” said Casey, who wanted his team to limit penetration while getting out on the OOB shooters. “Even when things got a little crazy, we turned it over and started to rush things, we went back to that game plan. Kudos to the girls, they stuck with it.”
Russell got the Falcons off to a quick start with four points and the early lead. Mountain Valley was up 10-1 before OOB hit its first field goal, a 3 by Haley Plante, who led OOB with nine.
“It was pretty exciting,” Russell said. “We were pretty nervous about their pressure but once we took it at them, it was pretty easy. We got it down the floor pretty well.”
White also had pair of baskets and the Falcons were up 10-4 after the first quarter.
“Being a sophomore, I was a little nervous, being out there on the court and everything” Laubauskas said. “I just tried to keep myself relaxed and stay calm and work with my teammates.”
A 3 by Flaherty opened the second. Though Planet hit a 3 for OOB, the Falcons finished the half with eight straight. Laubauskas scored on a pair of drives and hit a free throw. Flaherty capped the half off with a 3 for a 21-7 lead.
“When we made our shots, we didn’t celebrate on the court,” Laubauskas said. “We just brought it back and played our nice calm defense and got stops. We just stayed calm and stayed together.”
OOB had a couple of runs in the second half and got within 10 twice. Mackenzie Rague had all eight of her points in the second half and Plante added another 3 in the third. Each time the Sea Gulls made a run, the Falcons were able to answer. Petrie had a pair of hoops in the third while White and Laubauskas scored baskets. In the fourth, Russell had four points and Laubauskas three to help maintain the lead.
“It feels so good because its been a long time since we’ve been here,” Russell said.
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