Two sophomores propelled Mountain View after a sluggish start Friday night, and the result was a second straight victory.

One of those sophomores, Julia Towle, came off the bench to score 12 points, all in the first half. And classmate Liliana Overcash came on strong late, helping the host Cougars to a 54-40 nonleague win over Madison of Portland.

“We just took her (Towle) out of the starting lineup tonight to give her a chance to collect herself on the bench,” Mountain View coach Megan Dickerson said. “She put so much pressure on herself. It worked for her. She came in and definitely sparked us.”

Towle’s final field goal, a 3-pointer with three minutes remaining in the second quarter, gave the Cougars a 23-22 lead. After Towle then tied the game at 26-26 on a free throw, junior Bailey Dickerson made a jump shot to give Mountain View a 28-26 lead at halftime.

The Cougars never trailed again.

“We just had to reiterate to the kids to keep doing our stuff,” coach Dickerson said. “We had a lot of good shots in the first half and they just weren’t going in. In the second half, finally we got hot there down the stretch and just continued to execute our offense and got the same looks we were getting, we just put the ball in.”

Bailey Dickerson found her rhythm in the third quarter, scoring nine of her team-high 21 points as Mountain View went on a 13-0 run to take a 36-26 lead midway through the period.

“Our intensity went up and we played for each other rather than selfishly,” Bailey Dickerson said. “We’re such a family. We bond together and play so well together. Each girl is like a sister to me and we’d doing anything for each other. I was really proud of all the young girls. They definitely stepped up and proved themselves.”

Trying to block a shot at the end of the third, Dickerson went down with a cramp. But she was able to return with 7:07 remaining in the game.

“I went up for a layup and felt it (the cramp) at first but it went away,” Dickerson said. “It came back really hard and fast.”

Overcash helped the Cougars finish off Madison, scoring eight points in the fourth quarter on a jump shot and two 3-pointers.

“We know she’s a shooter,” Megan Dickerson said of Overcash. “She started out a little cold and wasn’t getting a lot of looks but down the stretch she was big for us.”

Mountain View played one junior, Dickerson, and six sophomores.

Bailey Meier added six points on two 3-pointers in the second half.

“We’ve got this group of sophomores that work hard, they’re coachable, they’re doing the right things and they’re going to get better and better,” coach Dickerson said.

The Cougars (2-0) have a quick turnaround, back in nonleague action at 11 a.m. Saturday at home against South Medford.

— Reporter: 541-383-0307, dwiley@bendbulletin.com