WISCASSET — It is getting down to the nitty-gritty in the high school basketball season, with teams jockeying for a playoff spot.

Lisbon and Wiscasset met on Monday in a key Mountain Valley Conference contest, with the Greyhounds entering just two-tenths of a Heal Point behind the Wolverines for the 14th and final postseason position in Western Maine Class C.

Wiscasset’s 50-34 win over the slumping Greyhounds, who have dropped five or their last six, gives the Wolverines a five-point cushion now, with Lisbon standing at 5-9 and needing to figure things out quickly if the Greyhounds hope to slip in.

“We certainly watched, and they clearly outplayed us in every category. We couldn’t get into our offense, couldn’t get easy shots, nothing fell for us, and we just didn’t play at the level that I wanted them to play tonight,” said Lisbon coach Julie Wescott,” whose Greyhounds visit Oak Hill on Wednesday in a rematch of Friday’s 72-39 Raiders win.

Wiscasset (5-11), coming off an upset win over Monmouth on Friday, took the game over in the third quarter, outscoring Lisbon 18-4 to turn a close 19-15 halftime lead into a 37-19 edge.

“We had to work on our passing because it was really rough in the first half, and we picked it up and kept our heads in it,” said Wiscasset guard Alecia Faulkingham, who had 11 points, four steals and three assists. “This is a huge win and it feels good to win. This really knocks us up a lot. We had a rough first half of the season, but really came back in the win against Monmouth, and this win gives us a lot of confidence.”

The first half was nip and tuck, with neither team taking control. Katelyn Fowler scored four points and Adrianna White three for a 7-6 Lisbon edge after a quarter. In all, the teams exchanged the lead four times in the first half.

The Greyhounds led 13-10 after freshman Kipri Steele (10 points, seven rebounds, four steals, two assists) sank a pair of free throws, but the Wolverines closed the half on a 9-2 run. Kayla Gordon scored her first points of the game to give Wiscasset the lead (14-13) for good, and Briana Goud and Faulkingham sandwiched a bucket around Steele’s for a 19-15 halftime lead.

Lisbon held a 13-8 rebounding edge at the break, but the Greyhounds fell apart in the third quarter, with Wiscasset getting 11 boards, including four on the offensive glass. A 10-0 run gave the Wolverines a 31-17 lead, and after White sank a pair of free throws, Wiscasset scored the final six points of the frame to open up an 18-point lead. Gordon had eight points, and Wiscasset was 8-for-8 from the charity stripe in the quarter.

Leading 44-25 with 3:38 remaining, Wiscasset coach Patrick Quinn went to his bench. With many of Wiscasset’s starters out of the game, Lisbon put together a 9-0 spurt to close to 44-34 with 1:22 left. Quinn reinserted his starters, and the Wolverines closed things out from there, with Goud sinking four free throws to finish with 13 points.

“They knew they had to take care of business and finish it out, finish what you started, and they did,” said Quinn, waho feels his team has a chance to make some noise come playoff time. “We are feeling great, and if things play out the way they should we will get a prelim. Early on, we played teams two, three, four, five and six in the Heals in our first six games, and you can play hard against those teams, not win and it gets you down. We have committed to playing much better defense, and that has made a difference. It is great when there are no dead spots in the defensive end.”

Gordon scored 11 second-half points for a game-high 14 to pace Wiscasset. Gordon also led her team with nine rebounds. Goud had six boards and four steals, while Hanna Foye picked up three steals. The Wolverines shot 35 percent (14 of 40) from the field and made 21 of 35 at the free-throw line.

White led Lisbon with 13 points, 10 in the second half, pulled down nine rebounds, had three steals and two assists. Mikayla Yanez picked up five steals and Mia Durgin picked up four as Lisbon forced 25 turnovers, but committed 30.

The Greyhounds shot 23 percent (12 of 52) from the floor and 10 of 16 at the charity stripe.

Copy the Story Link