RUMFORD — Mountain Valley emerged from an MVC girls’ basketball scrum with a 60-57 victory over Monmouth at Puiia Gymnasium on Tuesday.
“It’s a home-court advantage, so we were all really pumped up, and we knew we had nothing to lose, that this game was so big, that it’s going to secure us in Class B at the No. 2 (seed),” Mountain Valley’s Ashley Russell said.
“Coach usually screams at us, so that really gets us pumped up, and we just know that we can play better than anyone, so we played to our ability.”
Emily Laubuaskas drove for a bucket that gave the Falcons a 58-57 lead with less than 20 seconds remaining. The Mustangs had two good looks right under the basket, but a layup by Abbey Allen and a putback by Abby Ferland bounced out.
Mountain Valley’s Liza White grabbed the rebound and then hit two free throws at the other end to make it 60-57. Monmouth called a timeout, but its options were limited, and a heave by Tia Day from beyond halfcourt fell short.
“I think the biggest deal is that we really respect Monmouth’s basketball program,” Mountain Valley coach Ryan Casey said. “They beat us pretty bad down at their place (49-25 on Dec. 15), and we just wanted to compete and contend, and turn it into a basketball game. My kids came with tons of heart, tons of energy, they showed ultimate respect for Monmouth and played their hearts out tonight.”
Day hit five 3-pointers in the game and scored 12 points in the fourth quarter. She finished with 21 points.
Falcons star Ashley Russell led all scorers with 24 points. She also had 12 points in the fourth quarter.
For a stretch, Russell and Day, two of the top scorers in the Mountain Valley conference, went back and forth.
Russell hit two free throws to make it 43-41. Day answered with two free throws of her own to tie the score again.
Russell sank two more at the line, but Day drove the lane for a bucket to make it 45-45.
Russell hit a 3-pointer, then Day responded in kind to make it 48-48.
“Without a doubt, Tia Day was phenomenal tonight,” Casey said, “and I’m proud that Ashley stepped up and matched her down the stretch.”
Laubauskas broke that tie with a trey with less than four minutes to play.
Day hit one more 3, and Russell scored five more points before Laubauskas’ go-ahead layup.
The Mustangs led 27-21 at halftime, and Hannah Anderson opened the third quarter to make it 29-21.
But then the Falcons’ full-court press kicked in, and was the catalyst for an 8-0 run. After that, the margin rarely grew higher than three points.
“Our identity is to press,” Casey said. “We knew they had some very skilled players, and we didn’t put our press on until later, in that second half. And I think it made a difference, we got to play with more energy.”
Day hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter, after which Monmouth led 15-8. She didn’t score again until the fourth quarter, thanks to in part to the defense of Mountain Valley guard Emily Billings.
“With that Billings girl playing defense, that’s a special situation right there, because she can play,” Monmouth coach Scott Wing said. “Anybody that makes Tia have a hard time bringing the ball up the court is a darn good defensive player.”
The Falcons improve to 13-2 with three games to play in the regular season. Their next game is Wednesday at Carrabec.
The Mustangs are 13-3 and third in the Class C South standings. They finish the regular season at Winthrop on Friday and then host Lisbon on Monday.
“It was a fun game,” Wing said. “And I think, probably in the long run — you know, I hate losing the kids hate losing, but in the long run, having a good game like that probably will pay off for us more than winning by 10 or something like that.
“So we always try to look at the positives of things. And, we gave ourselves a chance to win it — with two seconds to go, we had a layup, and just didn’t make it.”
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