LISBON FALLS — In Thursday night’s boys high school basketball game between Wiscasset and Lisbon, the first quarter belonged to the Wolverines. The second quarter belonged to Lisbon.

Going into halftime, it was just a three-point game.

But right out of the gates in the second half, Wiscasset reeled off 11 straight points, and from there and the game was out of reach. The Wolverines went on to capture a comfortable 62-44 Mountain Valley Conference victory at Lisbon High School.

Despite a back-and-forth opening 15 points of the game, and just six second-quarter points from Wiscasset, Lisbon struggled to defend center Ethan James, who scored five straight points to end the opening quarter and finished with a game-high 25. James scored six of Wiscasset’s 11 points during the decisive run that ultimately put the Greyhounds away.

“They came out and we didn’t handle their trap very well,” Lisbon coach Jake Gentle said. “A lot of it came down to they made some open shots, and we didn’t. When they start hitting outside shots with James inside, it’s just really tough to defend.”

James scored 20 of his 25 points in the post, but also nailed a corner trey in the middle of an 11-2 third quarter run. Senior Brandon Sprague (15 points, six rebounds) hit one of his two 3-pointers with 3:55 left and put the Wolverines up 56-36.

“The second half made all the difference,” Wiscasset coach Dana Lawrence said. “In the first half, we couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. We were getting our shots and our looks. We just weren’t knocking them down. We talked about that at halftime and tried to play with the confidence that we can play wiith. We came out and started knocking those shots down.”

Senior guard Noah Carter paced Lisbon with 15 points and Tyrese Joseph added 12, with six rebounds and thre steals. Joseph stealing the ball from Wiscasset guards in the front court led to a few quick buckets that otherwise weren’t coming. The Wolverines pressed early and forced 14 Greyhound turnovers.

“The press is really what got the best of them,” Lawrence said. “They didn’t shoot the ball tonight like they can. They’ve got better shooters than they had tonight, but our defense makes the offense go.”

Lisbon (3-3) shot just 37 percent from the floor and missed five out of seven attempts from the free-throw line in the first half where they shot 57 percent on the night. Wiscasset (6-0) was only a slightly better 44 percent from the field, but took 11 more shots and got a high volume of easy buckets down low that James, standing at 6-foot-6, prevented for the Lisbon forwards.

Gentle’s defensive game plan was to front James and play behind him in Lisbon’s zone. But the Lisbon coach said his team got over-focused on James at times, which led to outside looks that Wiscasset often knocked down.

“They beat us on the glass,” Gentle said. “We knew coming in with Ethan [James] and Sprague that they’d be pretty tough on the glass. We didn’t do the best job that we possibly could. I’ve got to do a better job of getting prepared and having them understand what we need to do.”

“We’re getting our plays down and we’re slowing it down,” James said. “I look to make a move and get by other players. My teammates tell me to keep shooting, so I keep shooting.”

Despite James’ typical dominance down low, Lawrence emphasized that his team can’t rely on him solely or they’ll become one-dimensional. Seven Wolverines contributed with points, despite major injuries to the starting five.

Since its game vs. Hall-Dale on Monday, Wiscasset has lost four players to injury, including starting guard Brycson Grover, who turned his ankle in practice on Wednesday. Lawrence said his team didn’t skip a beat, with replacement guard Russell Marr running the offense and Cody Roberts chipping in with seven points and three boards.

“We’ve got people that can shoot the ball and we’ve got people that can score,” Lawrence said. “Inside and out. Ethan’s going to get his points one way or the other, and we’re trying not to make it all about Ethan. The kids understand that.”

Sophomore Jonah Sautter added six points and six rebounds for the Greyhounds.

Lisbon has now dropped three out of its last four games, but all three defeats have come to undefeated teams in the Mountain Valley Conference. The Greyhounds will be on the road facing Telstar on Monday at 7 p.m. Wiscasset is now on a six-game winning streak to start the season, and will host Mt. Abram at 7 p.m. on Monday.