TURNER — Hand in the face, double-teamed, it didn’t matter. Rylee Sevigny was going to shoot and she was going to score.
The Mountain Valley senior guard outscored Leavitt by herself in the first half and finished with 33 points to pace the Falcons to a 50-41 girls basketball victory to open the season Tuesday night.
“My shot was feeling pretty good tonight, and my teammates were doing really good at setting screens, which was freeing me up, getting me open to take the shots,” said Sevigny, who estimated after the game that her 33-point performance was a career high.
“There are times where I sit back and I just kind of watch and enjoy because it’s not necessarily something I drew up, it’s more or less just her making plays,” Mountain Valley coach Craig Milledge said.
Sevigny was all of the Falcons’ (1-0) offense in the first quarter, but Leavitt (0-1) finished the frame with a 13-10 lead. She didn’t cool off in the second, but the Hornets did.
It wasn’t until Emelia Bowie’s layup with just over two minutes before halftime that Leavitt had its first and only field goal of the second quarter, and after getting outscored 16-4 in the frame the Hornets found themselves down 26-17 at the half.
“We made some changes defensively, and I think that our offense kind of fed off that,” Milledge said.
“We put in our press,” Sevigny said. “We’ve been working on that the past couple weeks we’ve been able to practice, and I think we did pretty good in it.”
Leavitt struggled without Alison Noniewicz on the court.
“I think having (Noniewicz) get in foul trouble really hurt us because she’s one of our composed seniors that’s had experience,” Leavitt coach Chris Marston said. “And when they started pressing and she’s on the bench, she’s a significant part of both ends of the floor for us, so I think that hurt.”
Bowie paced the Hornets in the first half with all eight of her points, while Noniewicz, who picked up her third foul in the final minute of the first quarter, was held scoreless.
The Hornets were 2 for 11 on free throws in the second quarter.
“If we even shoot 50% in that quarter, we’re scoring 10 points so we’re only down three or four instead of whatever it was at halftime,” Marston said.
Sevigny was up to 22 points by halftime, and also assisted on the only other Falcons basket in the first half, scored by Alana Young.
Bowie picked up her third foul on the opening possession of the second half, and Noniewicz was tagged with her fourth soon after.
Sevigny scored a quiet, for her, five points in the third, but Young equaled that with a pair of made baskets, including one assisted by Sevigny, who played a part in all but two of the Falcons’ field goals in the game.
“I really trust my teammates. I know they’re going to make the open basket, they’re going to make that layup, they’ll get that board,” Sevigny said. “So I’m in a position where if I have two girls on me, I know one of my teammates is going to get a basket.”
Both Sevigny and Milledge praised Young for her performance, which included seven points.
Leavitt found a way to play Mountain Valley even in the second half, with Emma Chiasson doing much of her work in the third quarter. She scored half of the Hornets’ 12 points as they inched closer. Chiasson finished with a team-high 10 points, and also assisted on Katie Blouin’s layup just before the final buzzer in the fourth.
“One of the things I talked about when I got them together here (after the game) is that I’m so happy with how our effort didn’t stop. We just kept setting little goals and challenged them,” Marston said. “Even the last possession of the game, I challenged them: ‘Let’s get out in transition and get a layup, if we cause a turnover or get a rebound,’ and they did. They got a rebound and outlet, push the ball down the floor and we get a layup to finish the game.
“So I’m very proud of our effort to end it. We obviously have some work to do, but first year with a team, first game, you expect to have some growing pains, and I think we’re going to work through those.”
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