The Greyhounds lost to both Boothbay and Madison last week, but had a reversal of fortune Monday with a 37-23 win over Telstar.

“I think we kind of used this game as a start to build momentum,” senior guard Bree Sautter said. “We’ve had a lot of tough games in a row, and it’s been hard. It’s good to bet back into a positive mindset.”

Lisbon had won three straight prior to Christmas, including a 50-32 win at Telstar. Two challenging games followed and the Greyhounds lost to Boothbay, 38-14, and Madison, 50-31. Boothbay and Madison are the two top-ranked teams in Class C South.

“I thought we played well against Madison,” Lisbon coach Julie Petrie said. “Obviously, they’re very skilled and they shot a lot better than we did. Tonight, I think some shots fell. Hopefully, some confidence comes from this game. We play a really good Mountain Valley team on Thursday.”

Sautter led the Greyhounds (5-5) with 10 points while Jasmin Le added eight. The Greyhounds had eight different players score and did nice job trying to execute again both the zone and man-to-man defenses that Telstar defended with.

“I think offensively everybody got involved,” Petrie said. “There was good ball movement and some good takes to the basket. We transitioned pretty well. It was good. I was happy with the way we played.”

Telstar (0-10) got a fine game from Becca Howard, who scored 18 of her team’s 23 points. The Rebels are young with just three seniors — Howard, Hayley Peterson and Blair Stevens — and six freshmen.

The Rebels stayed close in the first quarter but turnovers multiplied and limited Telstar’s ability to keep pace. Lisbon pulled away late in the first for a 10-7 lead. Sautter led the charge with six points in the first quarter.

“When we want to Telstar, we ended up keeping it closer than we liked to,” Sautter said. “So I think we went into this game wanting to come out and make a statement.”

The Greyhounds opened the lead in the second with 11 straight to open the quarter. Sautter and Kipri Steele each had four points in the quarter to help build a 23-9 lead at the half. 

“They started to talk more, not only defensively but offensively,” Petrie said. “They were trying to help each other out, which is huge. They’re definitely getting more patient.”

Facing a Telstar zone, the Greyhounds were able to find open shooters and hit some shots. In the second quarter, Sautter hit a couple of outside jumpers. Valerie Doucette converted a transition pass from Sautter. Kate Philbrick and Steele hit jumpers to make it 21-7. Telstar didn’t get its first basket of the second until Howard scored with 46 seconds left in the half.

Lisbon added to the lead in the third with seven straight to open the quarter. The Greyhounds found openings to the basket against the Rebels’ man-to-man. Kaylin Le had three points while Jasmin Le and Steele added baskets. Howard had Telstar’s only hoop with a rebound basket midway through the quarter.

Jasmin Le scored six straight in the post to open the fourth, giving Lisbon a 36-11 lead. Howard helped the Rebels rally with 12 straight points. Sadie Richardson finished with three points for Telstar while Julia Cherkis had the only other basket.

“I think we have some winnable games down the stretch,” said Petrie, whose team is ranked eighth in Class B South. “Obviously, (Madison and Boothbay) had size, numbers and strength on us. We held our own and did the best we could defensively. We didn’t do well offensively against Boothbay, but we’re setting goals every game to get better. I told the girls today that every game is a big game, and we just need to chip away against the next opponent. We just have to take care of business every game.”

kmills@sunjournal.com