WINTHROP — Now that might taste a little better.
After a disappointing, opening-night loss to Mountain Valley, the Winthrop boys’ basketball team wanted to sample something other than another defeat. Monday, the Ramblers came out with an extra helping of motivation and turned it into a 63-39 win over Lisbon.
“We had a bitter taste in our mouth from opening night,” Winthrop coach Todd MacArthur said. “We came out strong, but left one on the table. So we wanted to make sure we didn’t leave anything on the table tonight. We wanted to play hard from start to finish.”
The Ramblers scored 10 straight to open the game and finished the quarter with a 9-1 run, and a 19-4 lead.
“There were some good things to take away from Mountain Valley, but it was still a loss,” said MacArthur. “We knew we had to go out tonight and win. We couldn’t be 0-2 going to face Boothbay.”
Ben Allen led the Ramblers with 16 points while Taylor Morang had 15. Winthrop got additional scoring from seven other players.
Lisbon (1-1) got nine from Tucker Brannon and six from Nick Collins. The Greyhounds missed their first five shots from the floor and had nearly 10 turnovers in the first quarter. Lisbon shot 1-for-10 in the first and just 3-for-18 in the first half.
“They were in a better flow to start the game,” Lisbon coach Jake Gentle said. “We didn’t come out the way we needed to come out. We weren’t prepared and that’s my fault.”
The Ramblers’ defense gave Lisbon fits in the first half. The Greyhounds could get little going offensively when turnovers were constantly feeding the Winthrop attack the other way.
“I think by causing turnovers and scoring, we were able to play that much more and took them out of what they wanted to do,” said MacArthur, whose team hit five of its first six shots from the floor. “It changed the way they wanted to play.”
The first half was filled with fouls as well and Winthrop took advantage with seven points from the line in the first quarter alone.
Two single free throws started the 10-0 run. Then Allen hit a jumper. After two from the foul line by Morang, Allen scored. Morang followed with his own drive for the 10-0 lead. Lisbon’s first basket came with 4:32 left in the quarter on a Johnny Yim basket inside. A minute later, Morang finished the quarter with seven straight points for the 19-4 lead.
Five straight by Allen in the second was part of an 11-2 run that helped Winthrop build a 35-13 lead by halftime.
Lisbon tried to make a run with five straight points early in the third, but Winthrop answered that with nine straight to enter the fourth up 50-20.
“We came out in the second half, and ideally, you want to get it within 10 or 12 by the fourth,” said Gentle. ” We were playing well, but we just couldn’t get into an offensive flow.”
kmills@sunjournal.com
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- Crispin Banda, bottom, of Winthrop and Mason Haley of Lisbon scramble for a loose ball at Winthrop High School on Monday.
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- Anthony Owens, bottom, of Winthrop and Kyle Sheehan of Lisbon scramble for a loose ball during the first half in Winthrop on Monday.
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- Dakota Carter of Winthrop attempts to intercept a pass intended for Johnny Yim of Lisbon during the second half in Winthrop on Monday.
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