What had been a rather grim holiday season got a lot brighter Saturday for Mountain View.

Hailey Goetz scored a game-high 26 points, and the Cougars notched their first win of the girls basketball season with a 44-38 victory over Crescent Valley.

“We finally put four quarters together as a team,” said Mountain View coach Steve Riper, whose squad had lost its first five games, all by no fewer than 19 points.

Goetz got the Cougars (1-5) going out of the gate Saturday against the visiting Raiders from Corvallis. The junior guard made three of her four 3-pointers in the first quarter and scored all of her team’s points in the quarter as Mountain View took an 11-6 lead.

Crescent Valley controlled the second quarter and led 21-19 at halftime, and the Raiders were up by the same margin, 32-30, entering the final period. That is when Goetz went back to work, scoring 11 points in the quarter as the Cougars iced the win with late free throws.

Foul shooting was a key to the outcome, as Mountain View made 15 of 22 attempts overall and 7 of 9 in the fourth period, while Crescent Valley made just 3 of 9 free throws for the game.

Erica Skoog, Mountain View’s 6-foot-3-inch junior post, was a presence inside, with 12 rebounds and seven blocks. Senior guard Sarah Bailey had seven steals to go with her seven points for the Cougars.