LISBON – If this is what the Mountain Valley Conference intends to give boys’ basketball enthusiasts this winter, everybody should switch to decaf and avoid grooming their fingernails with anything that tastes nasty.
Levi Ervin’s short-range hook shot hovered around the rim before dropping home with three seconds remaining in regulation Saturday night, lifting resurgent Lisbon to a 55-53 victory over startlingly improved Livermore Falls at venerable Manchester Gymnasium.
Ervin finished with 10 points for Lisbon, which led by eight, then trailed by as many as five in the mutual season-opener before enjoying the last of five lead changes in a frantic fourth quarter. Evan Manocal led the Greyhounds with 20 points, seven in the final six minutes.
“That was tough,” said Ervin. “It was a real tight game. I think that will bring us closer together as a team.”
Indeed, while football star and frequent headline grabber Ervin hit the game-winner, Lisbon’s victory was community property. Mike Wilkins (12 points, five rebounds, five assists) fed the 6-foot-4 Ervin to set up the fateful hoop and was a calming presence at point guard throughout.
Zach Bubar’s steal and transition bucket gave the Greyhounds a tenuous but significant three-point lead with 2:02 to play. Manocal and Zach Bubar nailed three immense free throws in the final minute.
Chris Brunick fought off first-half foul trouble and transformed his smothering defense into flourishes of quick offense.
“In past years, I didn’t do as good as job in our scrimmages of giving all the guys enough playing time,” said Lisbon coach Doug Sautter. “We gave a lot of guys big minutes in the preseason, and I feel really confident about putting anybody on the court, like Zach Bubar. We were down by nine at halftime (in an exhibition) against Gray-New Gloucester, and Zach is basically the reason we won that game.”
Class B Lisbon’s bench strength might have tipped the scales in a closely called game that saw key players from both sides relegated to the pine. Mark O’Shea fouled out for Livermore Falls in the third quarter, while 6-6 Lisbon center Brendan McGivney followed him to the sideline early in the fourth. Ervin also sat out most of the second half with four personals prior to his late heroics.
Even at full strength, the Lisbon frontcourt fashioned few answers for Livermore Falls’ 6-6 junior pivot, Mike Durrell, who established himself as an MVC player to watch with 23 points and 17 rebounds.
“I just talked to his dad, and he said that’s the best he’s ever seen his son play,” said first-year Livermore Falls coach Randy Parenteau, who took over a team that won only five games last season.
Durrell dropped in four hoops in the third period, while streaky Lisbon went 1-for-14 from the field. That reversed a 31-25 halftime deficit to a 40-36 lead for the Andies.
After another a pair of deuces early in the fourth, Durrell drew a crowd and dished to Derick Neal for an 8-footer that gave Livermore Falls a 51-50 edge with a minute to play. Manocal and Bubar restored Lisbon’s lead with their work at the stripe, and with everyone in the toasty gym then expecting Durrell to get the ball, Jake Marceau (nine points) tied it from the right elbow with 12.1 seconds to go.
“I told the guys at halftime not to let one guy beat us,” Sautter said.
Lisbon called timeout after Marceau’s equalizer, asked Bubar to set a screen and gave Wilkins three options: dish the ball to the perimeter, push it into the post or take the shot himself.
Ervin was a logical choice for a team with four of five starters back from a playoff team in 2004-05. The Andies, meanwhile, hope to develop that kind of big-game presence on the fly.
“These kids had no confidence when I met them,” Parenteau said. “We’ve come a long way, and we’re still young. Nobody’s going to blow us out this year.”
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