BETHEL — You can have a roster and a schedule fit for a perfect week to start the high school basketball season. Sometimes, however, you need to overcome history.
Telstar isn’t here to talk about the past. Its turnaround continued Thursday night with a 50-35 MVC boys’ victory over Lisbon, the Rebels’ third consecutive triumph out of the gate.
Winning streaks and strong starts haven’t been a habit for the Rebels, nor have Western Class C tournament appearances.
With each one-sided victory providing a new building block, battle-tested Telstar and its supporters are starting to believe differently.
“It’s a new experience,” said Dan Vaughn. “We haven’t really started the way we’d like to the last couple of years. It’s good to come out and get three wins under our belt.”
“We had everyone coming back after last year,” added Elek Pew, Vaughn’s senior classmate and fellow co-captain. “This year is the year. If it’s ever going to happen, it’s now.”
Vaughn was a cornerstone for the Rebels with 17 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and seven steals.
Pew added 12 points and eight rebounds. Danny Whitney dropped in 12 points. Ben Field produced 10 points and nine boards.
All four were starters last year along with Corey Howard. The first two players off the Telstar bench, T.J. O’Connor and Drew Wilson, also are veterans.
“They’re a team that wants to play in Augusta, and I don’t see why they can’t,” Lisbon coach Eric Hall said.
Telstar squirmed its way out of a first-half jam caused by Lisbon’s disciplined 2-3 zone. The Rebels seemed tentative to shoot from outside and complicated matters by missing multiple layups on their way to a 1-for-15 start from the floor.
Minus senior point guard Tobey Harrington (cracked ribs), Lisbon led 5-2 at the end of the first quarter and 9-7 with 5:11 remaining in the half before Telstar erupted for 16 unanswered points.
“Once we were able to get out and start running, we started to get some easy baskets,” Telstar coach Mark Thurlow said. “We weren’t getting anything off our defense in the first quarter. We got some stuff going in the second quarter.”
Vaughn and Pew each scored six points in the second period, when Telstar heated up to a 9-for-18 clip. Each also contributed two steals as the sticky fingers in Telstar’s zone press.
Telstar maintained that momentum in the third quarter, extending the run to 28-6 on two 3-pointers by Whitney and another from Vaughn for a 35-15 lead.
“Fast break layups got us a little confidence,” Vaughn said. “Then we started hitting our open jumpers.”
Harrington’s absence leaves the Greyhounds (0-3) without their best ball-handler and second most reliable scorer. He also would have drawn the defensive assignment on Vaughn.
Mike Degou did his share, slashing to 23 of Lisbon’s 35 points. Seventeen of those came in the second half. Derick Lycette gave the Greyhounds five points and eight rebounds.
“Missing Tobey, he would have been bringing the ball up, and he kind of sets the rhythm that we want,” Hall said. “We’re still trying to identify what our flow should be.”
Telstar won its first three games over Carrabec, Madison and Lisbon by an average of 29 points.
The schedule toughens dramatically with a home game Monday against Livermore Falls and trips to Jay and Boothbay before New Year’s.
“We just need to keep working hard night-in, night-out,” Vaughn said.
koakes@sunjournal.com
For more photos, click here.
-
- Telstar’s Dominic Haines attempts to steal the ball from Lisbon’s Mike Degou during the first half of their game Thursday in Bethel. The Rebels topped the Greyhounds, 50-35.
-
- Telstar’s Corey Howard looks for a teammate to pass to past the defenses of Lisbon’s Derick Lycette, center, and Kyle Sheehan in the first half of first half of their game Thursday in Bethel. The Rebels topped the Greyhounds, 50-35.
-
- Lisbon’s Mike Degou pushes to get past Telstar’s Dan Vaughn in the first half of first half of their game Thursday in Bethel. The Rebels topped the Greyhounds, 50-35.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
