RUMFORD — Something had to give on Tuesday night between the top two girls’ basketball teams in the Mountain Valley Conference, and the showdown between Boothbay and Mountain Valley certainly lived up to expectations.
Boothbay freshman Faith Blethen scored the final seven points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining, as the Seahawks edged the Falcons, 37-33, in a battle of unbeaten teams at Puiia Gymnasium.
In a matter of seconds, Blethen stepped up when it mattered the most. Boothbay found itself trailing by one point and didn’t panic. Hannah Morley passed over to Blethen, who was set up alone on the left wing.
She squared up, stepped forward and drained the trey. On the ensuing possession, Mountain Valley had just cleared halfcourt when Blethen swatted the ball, gained possession and scored a layup.
Class C Boothbay is now 6-0.
“We tried to keep our composure down the stretch,” Boothbay coach Tanner Grover said. “We’ve worked hard on that all season long, and it fits our game plan. In the second half, we tried to extend our pressure, because we hadn’t done that in the first half.”
Class B Mountain Valley (5-1) took a 31-30 lead on a free throw by Emily Billings with 1:33 remaining. But the Falcons were unable to take care of the ball, with 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter.
The lone field goal was a layup by Karen Flaherty with 7.3 seconds left.
“We tried to be patient with the ball,” Mountain Valley coach Ryan Casey said. “We made some mental mistakes, and they cost us. But credit Boothbay for capitalizing.”
Mountain Valley was forced to foul twice, but it hadn’t reached the bonus, so precious time ticked off the clock. A third foul put Boothbay on the line, and Blethen (nine rebounds) grabbed a second chance and scored as the final horn sounded.
“They say that coaches can impact a game,” Casey said. “Well, (Grover) certainly did just that down the stretch.”
Sidney Petrie and Liza White led Mountan Valley in the paint with nine and seven points, respectively. White pulled down eight rebounds.
Petrie scored seven points in a 9-0 run that put Mountain Valley ahead 29-20 in the third quarter. Ashley Russell (seven rebounds, four steals) also had a basket.
The game changed when Petrie picked up a fourth foul early in the fourth quarter and was relegated to the bench.
“We just made too many unforced errors and had too many missed shots,” Casey said.
The Falcons shot 30 percent (13 of 36) and turned ball over 21 times.
Boothbay opened the third quarter with a trey by Kate Friant, but then went cold until Morley buried a trey with 3:25 left in the third quarter.
Paige Brown sank a pair of free throws and scored two baskets in the fourth quarter to tie the score 30-all.
Boothbay relied on its strong inside game with Blethen, Brown and Nicole Clarke scoring several buckets in the paint.
Billings and Flaherty hit 3-pointers in the second quarter to give the Falcons a 20-17 halftime lead.
Boothbay shot 41 percent, made 5 of 9 free throws and committed 17 turnovers.
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