RUMFORD — Oak Hill’s defense clamped down and the Raiders’ free throws went in en route to a 39-27 victory over Spruce Mountain in a Mountain Valley Conference girls basketball game Friday.
“Just a gritty game. We’re a gritty team,” Oak Hill coach Mike Labonte said.
The Raiders held the Falcons scoreless for almost five minutes to start the game, but Avery Sevigny hit a 3-pointer for Mountain Valley, and Rylee Sevigny converted an and-one after a steal to make it 7-6.
Oak Hill’s second run, though, was too much for Mountain Valley to overcome. The Raiders scored eight straight points in the second quarter to turn a 16-13 advantage into a 24-13 cushion. Abby Nadeau scored six of her 10 points in the stretch.
Saydie Garbarini ended Mountain Valley’s drought with a free throw with 1:12 left in quarter.
“Oak Hill’s extremely well-coached, very disciplined,” Mountain Valley coach Ryan Casey said. “Their length gave us some challenges. We’re a little small, we rely on the jump shot, the dribble-drive, and when you have length and some disciplined defenders, it’s hard to find your offensive rhythm.”
The Falcons actually held the Raiders without a field goal in the third quarter. But Mountain Valley only made one of its own — a 3-pointer by Brooke Carver with about 1:20 remaining in the period — but the Falcons were able to cut into the deficit, 25-21.
“I thought our first half, we were soft in our passing lanes. I felt like we didn’t do a good job helping and recovering,” Casey said. “Second half, definitely did a better job.”
The Raiders got back on track in the final period, pushing the lead to as many as 12 before the Falcons made their last stand with 3-pointers by Kierstyn Lyon and Carver to make it 33-27 with 2:42 remaining.
But a bucket by Sadie Waterman made it 35-27 and Desirae Dumais sealed the win.
“I think the difference was maybe just a little bit more composure at the end,” Labonte said. “Kids are just battling hard — both teams battled hard.”
Six of Dumais’ game-high 18 points came at the line, and the Raiders made 11 of their 12 foul shots.
“Lately we haven’t been doing too good (at the free-throw line), but in practice we’ve been practicing them more, and we’re just getting better and better,” Dumais said.
Carver led Mountain Valley with seven points.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.