LISBON — What a week for the Lisbon High School Greyhounds.

It started Monday with a Mountain Valley Conference road win over Boothbay. Then, on Thursday, the Greyhounds hosted Dirigo in a key boys showdown.

Just like earlier this week, Lisbon put to rest another program that has given it fits over the years, pulling away late for a 66-48 win over the Cougars.

Lisbon finished the week with a 3-2 record, while Dirigo is 1-3 heading into a short holiday break.

“The guys know the depth of this, and it is important to go out and beat everybody. Historically, it is a big win for these guys,” said Lisbon coach Jake Gentle.

Lisbon junior guard Jonah Sautter picked up a double-double, scoring a game-high 21 points and pulling down 18 rebounds. After not scoring in the opening quarter and missing his first five shots, Sautter scored on an offensive putback in the second quarter, and followed that moments later with a deep 3-pointer.

He added 16 points in the second half, including consecutive three-point plays to close out Dirigo.

“We needed a good week like this to go into the next part of our schedule,” said Sautter. “I kept telling myself that I know that I can shoot. I needed to keep shooting, and I went inside and worked my way outside. That works for me.”

“Our mentality is we have good shooters, and we don’t want them to not shoot just because they are going through a tough spell,” said Gentle, who also received 14 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three steals from senior forward Tyrese Joseph.

For Dirigo and head coach Travis Magnusson, his team’s 1-3 start is a product of a young roster and conference opponents that remember the superb Cougar teams of the past.

“We knew that we were a young team, and we have beaten up on this league over the last five years,” said Magnusson. “We know that everyone wants to come and get us. We will get everyone’s best game. Credit to Lisbon. They played really well. They are tough to stop.”

Solid start

Lisbon began the game strong, scoring the first seven points of the contest and forcing a timeout by Magnusson.

Dirigo began making shots, closing the deficit to 13-12 late in the frame on a 3-pointer by Jacob Gaudin. Lisbon led 14-12 after a quarter.

A trey by Dirigo’s Jeremy St. Germain gave the Cougars a short-lived 15-14 edge to open the second quarter, with Henry Doyle and Joseph finishing inside in putting Lisbon ahead.

Dirigo grabbed the advantage one more time, 20-19, on a three-point play by Luke Lueders, who led the Cougars with 17 points.

But Lisbon never let Dirigo get comfortable with the lead, as Joseph tied it with a free throw and Lucas Francis stole a Cougars pass and converted on offense to put the Greyhounds ahead to stay. Buoyed by a 9-1 run highlighted by Sautter’s first points, Lisbon led 29-21 late in the half and 29-23 at the break.

Joseph had 10 points at the intermission, with Doyle adding nine for Lisbon, while Lueders paced Dirigo with 10 points.

Twice in the third quarter Dirigo rallied to within four points, only to see turnovers and missed chances keep the Cougars from making another run.

“We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores, and we missed several layups, where if we finish and take the lead it might have been different,” said Magnusson, whose Cougars face Winthrop next.

Sautter frustrated Dirigo into several fouls, using his size and strength on defense to pull down rebounds.

“The first two years of my high school career I didn’t go inside. Now I am down low and I really work on that a lot,” said Sautter.

In the fourth quarter, the Cougars made a final charge, drawing to 40-37 on a Chase Clark putback. Once again, Lisbon pulled away, with Sautter scoring 11 points in the final quarter.

“We understood that they wanted to spread us out. We wanted them to come to us,” said Gentle. “We have progressed since the beginning of the year, understanding the situations in the fourth quarter.”

Doyle finished with 11 points for the Greyhounds. Sean Scott added nine points, including two 3-pointers. Francis pulled down five rebounds off the Lisbon bench and added five points, along with DJ Douglass, who also had five points.

Cooper Chaisson chipped in nine points and five boards for Dirigo, and Clark hauled down a team-high eight boards. Alex Gorham had eight points and five rebounds.

Thanks to Sautter and Joseph, Lisbon owned the boards, 50-32. The Greyhounds shot 41 percent (23-of-55) from the floor and made 15-of-29 at the charity stripe. Lisbon held Dirigo to just 31-percent shooting (19-of-61) and the Cougars were 6-of-13 at the stripe.