WISCASSET — Lisbon had erased all of a first-quarter deficit, using a 10-0 third-quarter run in claiming a one-point advantage through 24 minutes.
Wiscasset had other ideas in the final frame. The Wolverines strung together their own 10-0 spurt en route to a 48-38 Mountain Valley Conference verdict in girls’ high school basketball play on Friday.
Lisbon stands at 0-4 with Telstar set to visit Tuesday, while Wiscasset improved to 2-4 and visits Mt. Abram on Saturday and Oak Hill on Monday.
The big play Friday came with the score deadlocked at 36. Wolverines guard Tylan Onorato stole a Lisbon pass, dribbled down the court, put up a shot and was hacked. Her three-point play gave Wiscasset the lead for good with 4:30 remaining.
“I am not good at shooting, so when I shoot and I make it I am very happy,” said Onorato, who finished with 10 points, three steals and three assists. “Lisbon was definitely putting the pressure on us, and we are not great under pressure. We realized that we were behind and pushed it over the edge. We did what we needed to do.”
Moments later, Kayla Gordon, who had 13 points and 15 rebounds, gathered a pass from Gabby Chapman and scored. Gordon’s three-point play moments later put the Greyhounds away.
“Gabby Chapman came in, another ball handler, and we switched Kayla Gordon to the middle so she could take some power dribbles,” Wiscasset coach Patrick Quinn said. “All the experience you can have in a close game is awesome, and we are going to have a lot of close games. It is good that we have been there before.”
Lisbon coach Julie Petrie felt her team showed some character in battling back from a double-digit deficit.
“We anticipated better and had more of an edge offensively in attacking the basket,” said Petrie of her team’s 16-4 scoring advantage in the third quarter. “We stopped settling for outside shots and played harder.”
Wiscasset early
There was little that went right for the Greyhounds in the first quarter. Lisbon made just 1-of-15 from the field, and Wiscasset darted out to a 9-0 lead with 3:41 remaining.
Bree Sautter ended Lisbon’s cold snap with a 3-pointer, but Wiscasset, behind five first-quarter points from Alecia Faulkingham and four from Gordon claimed a 14-3 advantage through eight minutes.
“They were playing man early and Kayla was killing them inside,” said Quinn. “They switched to 1-2-2 zone and the ball movement was awesome, and when Alecia shoots like that, everything goes well.”
“We need to work on coming out strong and not getting behind and having to play catch-up,” added Petrie.
Faulkingham continued her hot play in the second quarter, scoring seven more points as the Wolverines extended their advantage to 27-13.
Lisbon began employing a full-court press, a move that slowed the Wiscasset offense to a halt. Down 27-16 in the third, the Greyhounds quickly began cutting into their deficit. Jasmine Le had six tough points inside, while Mia Durgin and Mikayla Yanez went hard to the rim for a combined nine points in the frame. Durgin’s trey made for a 31-28 contest, and Le scored in the paint just four seconds later after a Kipri Steele swipe to cut the deficit to one, 31-30.
With four seconds remaining, Yanez quickly pushed the ball up the court before dishing to Le, who beat the buzzer for a 32-31 Lisbon advantage after 24 minutes.
“We have had one practice in 12 days, so there is situational stuff where we are not real sharp with,” said Quinn of his team’s third quarter struggles, which included six turnovers and a 2-for-12 shooting performance. “We have seen zone press from a lot of teams, but man press was something that we had to adjust to.”
Faulkingham, who was held scoreless in third quarter after scoring 12 first-half points, swished a free throw to tie the game, but Yanez stepped back and nailed a trey for a 35-32 Lisbon advantage.
Once again, Faulkingham brought her team back, making two at the line to forge a 36-36 deadlock before Onorato’s three-point play put the Wolverines ahead. Wiscasset finished the game with a 14-2 run. Faulkingham had a game-high 17 points.
“We went cold in our shots and didn’t block out well in the fourth quarter,” said Petrie after her Greyhounds shot just 27 percent (15 of 55) from the field and 4-of-12 at the free-throw line. “We need to learn how to win a game, not just come back.”
Yanez led the ’Hounds with 12 points, while Le finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Durgin chipped in eight points.
Wiscasset was 16-of-47 from the field (34 percent) and 14-of-22 at the line. Faulkingham pulled down eight rebounds, had three steals and dished out two assists, while Miranda McIntire had six caroms.
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