Boys' basketball: Mountain Valley passes on Spruce Mountain

RUMFORD — Mountain Valley’s dizzying passing game and pinpoint shooting allowed the Falcons to go up, over and around persistent Spruce Mountain in a boys’ basketball game Tuesday night.

There always seemed to be an open man just inside the key for the Falcons, who held off the Phoenix with an inspiring 63-53 victory at Mike Puiia Gymnasium.

Mountain Valley’s height advantage certainly helped on the boards and opened up new possibilities inside the key for the the Falcons’ big men. Spruce Mountain’s 6-foot-3 junior forward Andrew Shaw (12 points) did all he could on the boards to thwart the Mountain Valley.

But not even Mason Shink’s six 3-pointers and game-high 24 points could put a stop to Mountain Valley’s antics in the passing lanes.

“We prepared well for them and we know they are long and they’re athletic and they can get in passing lanes, so we really preach ball fakes … I thought kids did that pretty well,” Mountain Valley coach Thomas Danylik said. “We kind of tried to give it away at the end, and didn’t make some great passes, but overall, I thought they kept their composure.

“Spruce made a run, a couple of runs, but I thought we responded well to that with some good runs. They are an extremely well-coached team and we knew it was going to be a battle, but my kids responded really well tonight.

“I think defensively, we communicated a lot better. We know they like to run that flex package and they do a lot of things off of that. We made shots. Last game, we didn’t make any, so we made a few shots, especially in that first quarter. We got a little confidence and it grew from there.”

The Falcons held the high ground most of the night thanks to their tenacity on defense, too.

Mountain Valley copped the lead just once early in the third quarter on one of Shink’s long-shot specialties, and took command, 24-23, but that only seemed to infuriate the Falcons, who went to the inside and then to the perimeter to keep Spruce Mountain at bay.

“I thought Mountain Valley played way better than we did. I thought they were ready to go. I thought they were the hungrier team,” Spruce Mountain coach Scott Bessey said. “I don’t think we played very good tonight. I don’t think we looked very good tonight.

“We had some key people in our lineup who just didn’t play well. The fact that it was semi-close down the stretch, I am OK with, but we didn’t deserve to win tonight. Mountain Valley was the better team.”

“Shink kept us in the game, but if that’s what we need to stay in the game, then we are in trouble. We shouldn’t have to need his type of heroics at shooting the ball. There is more to the game than shooting the ball, and I thought we lacked it.”

Mountain Valley’s 6-foot-3 junior forward Cam Godbois took the Phoenix to task in the third quarter, scoring eight of his 21 team-high points.

In the fourth quarter, back-to-back 3-pointers from junior guard William Sorensen (six points) and Taylor Pelletier (10 points) allowed the Falcons to pull away from the Phoenix. Junior Keegan Davis also scored 10 points for Mountain Valley.

In the first half, there were the telltale signs that the Falcons were on top of their game and a lot of that was attributed to their passing game.

By halftime, though, the Phoenix did a fine job of harassing the Falcons on defense. Mountain Valley went into the locker room at halftime with a slim 23-21 lead.

Mountain Valley’s Taylor Pelletier passes the ball between Spruce Mountain’s Brett Frey and Jordan Daigle during Tuesday night’s match up in Rumford. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Mountain Valley’s Keegan Davis looks for a teammate to pass the ball to past Spruce Mountain’s Tate Walton during Tuesday night’s match up in Rumford. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Mountain Valley’s Keegan Davis keeps the ball away from Spruce Mountain’s Brett Frey and Jack Bryant during Tuesday night’s match up in Rumford. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Spruce Mountain’s Tate Walton takes the ball down the court as Mountain Valley’s Will Bean plays defense during Tuesday night’s match up in Rumford. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)