Valley High School boys basketball coach Wade Morrill feels his senior forward Carrington Miller “is the best player in Western Maine Class D.”

After seeing Miller firsthand, Richmond will not argue that fact.

Miller scored a game-high 16 points (in three quarters), pulled down eight rebounds, and added seven assists and six steals as the Cavaliers ran roughshod to an 85-44 East- West Conference victory on Monday over the Bobcats.

“So much attention goes to Carrington, and when he would drive our heads would turn and look at him, and he immediately dished it off because he has great vision,” said Richmond first-year coach Jonathan Spear, whose Bobcats visit Class C Old Orchard Beach tonight at 7 p.m. “They have some really fast players, and good players.”

“Carrington makes everyone better, and sometimes they forget about the seven or eight other guys on this team that can really play basketball,” said Morrill, whose squad improved to 5-1. “We’re not a one-person team.”

Valley runs

Before many fans had settled into their seats after the Richmond-Valley girls’ game, the Cavalier boys darted out to a quick 10-0 lead. Miller had six points in the first two minutes.

“We tried a box-and-one to slow down Miller, and we realized right away that wasn’t working,” said Spear, who called a timeout and changed his defense to a man-to-man.

Richmond began finding its legs, getting four first-quarter points from Randy Moody, but Valley kept coming, taking a 24-8 lead after eight minutes. Seth Malloy made the Bobcats pay from the outside, draining three 3-pointers, while Miller had eight points in the first frame. Plus, Richmond was just two of seven from the free-throw line in the quarter and was slowed by 11 costly turnovers, leading to 16 points.

Visitors keep running

Valley kept running in the second quarter, but the Bobcats kept pace as the teams each scored 16 points. The Cavaliers led 40-24 at the break, with Miller leading the way with 10 points, while Moody had seven and Eddie Stewart five points for Richmond.

“I was happy in the second and third quarter in playing man to man and getting some fast-break points, but turnovers killed us,” said Spear after his team committed 16 miscues in the first half, 34 in the game.

“Richmond was much faster than us and beating us down the court in the first half,” said Morrill, whose squad took firm control in the third quarter, outscoring the Bobcats 24-9 for a 64-33 lead.

Valley shot 64 percent (20 of 31) in the second half, and finished 34 of 63 (53 percent) for the game.

“We look at it and say that we have the ability, but the basketball I.Q. isn’t quite there yet,” said Spear. “We are getting there, and I feel though we are young, we’re heading in the right direction.”

Moody and Sean Bernier paced Richmond with nine points each, while Stewart finished with seven. Moody had a team-high seven rebounds as the Bobcats held a 28-26 advantage. Xavier Trask and Tyler Soucy each had three steals.

Richmond was 19 of 57 (33 percent) from the floor, but struggled to a five-of-16 performance at the line.

Dylan Belanger added 15 points, six rebounds and three steals for Valley, while Malloy chipped in 12 points (four 3-pointers) and three steals.

Luke Miller came off the bench to add 13 points, while Collin Miller had nine. Josh West led the Valley defense with six steals, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

The Cavaliers were 10 of 16 from the charity stripe.

Valley 85, Richmond 44

At Richmond
Valley — 24 16 24 21 — 85
Richmond — 8 16 9 11 — 44
Valley — Jordan Gillespie 1-1-3, Dylan
Belanger 5-5-15, Seth Malloy 4-0-12,
Josh West 2-3-7, Carrington Miller 8-0-
16, Luke Miller 5-0-15, Collin Miller 4-
1-9, Devon Gillespie 2-0-4, Cody
Lawyerson 3-0-6, Jonathan Miller 0-0-
0, Justin Miller 0-0-0. Totals — 34-10-
85.
Richmond — Cam Emmons 1-0-2,
Randy Moody 3-3-9, Mike Stewart 2-0-
4, Eddie Stewart 3-1-7, Sean Bernier 4-
0-9, Xavier Trask 2-0-4, Tyler Soucy 2-
0-4, Jason Patterson 1-0-2, Marcus
Blake 1-1-3, Bailey Johanson 0-0-0,
Joey McCluskey 0-0-0. Totals — 19-5-
44.
3-pointer field goals — (V) Malloy 4,
Miller 3; (R) Bernier.
Records — Valley 5-1, Richmond 2-3.
Next for the Bobcats — Today at Old
Orchard Beach, 7 p.m.