RUMFORD — After already thwarting one Monmouth comeback to save the lead in the first half, the Mountain Valley girls’ basketball team had to ward off another Mustangs rally in the fourth Saturday.

After the Falcons built a double-digit lead in the third quarter, the Mustangs chipped away and were within four points down the stretch.

Mountain Valley countered, not by taking the air out of the ball, but by taking the air out of Monmouth’s late momentum and finished off the 44-37 win.

“They certainly played like champions,” Mountain Valley coach Ryan Casey said of Monmouth. “Their heart was big. Every time we felt like we were pulling away, they answered with a big shot. It was nice to see our kids settle down at the end of the game. We had a couple of good defensive stops and a couple of nice offensive possessions.”

Down by just one at the half, Monmouth shot just 1-for-18 in the third quarter. That one field goal came at the buzzer, and the Falcons had opened a 33-22 lead entering the fourth. As disastrous as the third was, the Mustangs dug deep to try rally late.

“It had nothing to do with effort or execution or anything,” Monmouth coach Scott Wing said. “It just came down to, you can’t make one basket in an entire quarter and keep up with a good team like that. Even though we fought back, it took a lot of gas to fight back, which made it tough.”

Sydney Petrie led the Falcons (10-1) with 10 points while Karen Flaherty added nine. Ashley Russell and Liza White each had seven. Russell had five of hers in the fourth, in which the Falcons scored just 11 points.

Monmouth (9-2) got 12 points from Haley West and nine from Tia Day.

The Falcons are the top team in Class B South while Monmouth is ranked fourth in Class C South.

“We came in remembering last year when we got hammered down on,” Petrie said of a loss at Monmouth in which the Falcons struggled to score. “We knew we needed to play better, finish and take it to them. We knew they were a top team and if we won it would help secure us in the top of Class B.”

Monmouth erased the deficit early in the fourth with an 11-1 run. Abby Ferland hit the first shot. Then Sydney Wilson hit a 3. After two free throws by White, West converted a three-point play and then hit two free throws to cut the lead to 37-30. Moments later, Day stole the ball and scored and Monmouth was within 37-32 with 3:52 left.

“It got in my head and got in everybody’s head but we fought through it,” Petrie said. “We knew we had to calm down and figure out what we needed to do and lock down and play offense like we know we can.”

Casey called a time out and the Falcons returned to the floor and tried to nurse the ball and the clock. Russell sank a free throw, but Monmouth kept battling. Maddie Amero scored on a rebound to make it 38-34 with 1:33 left. From there, Mountain Valley made some key stops and finished on the other end to seal the game with a 6-1 run.

“We haven’t been in that situation a whole lot,” Casey said. “I’m proud of the way they handled the pressure of finishing a game.”

Two Abby Mazza free throws bumped the lead up with 1:26 left. Then Russell scored off a nice Petrie pass on a press breaker. After a Wilson free throw, Russell scored again on a press breaker for a 44-35 lead. Day added a Monmouth basket in the final seconds.

“It amps us up every time we get a win,” Petrie said. “We just need to keep on pushing and pushing.”

Monmouth had rallied from a seven-point deficit in the first quarter. The Mustangs even took the lead on a Ferland basket late in the second quarter. Emily Laubauskas answered that to make it 21-20 at the half.

In the third, the Mustangs couldn’t buy a basket. Monmouth missed its first 17 shots until Abbey Allen scored in the final seconds.

“The third quarter was just shooting,” Wing said. “We played good defense but just didn’t put the ball in the basket. We got good shots. We executed well offensively. Shots we normally make, we didn’t make.”

Meanwhile, the Falcons ran off 12 straight points. White had five points during that surge. After Petrie scored in the post, White had a three-point play. Then White finished off a nifty pass from Petrie to make it 28-20. Flaherty drilled a 3 and Russell scored in the post to make it 33-20.

“Our offensive shot selections in that third quarter was the best we had throughout the game,” Casey said.

kmills@sunjournal.com