LISBON — At the start of the fourth quarter Monday, it didn’t sound like Oak Hill was playing its first road game in Lisbon’s new gym. The Raiders reeled off a 9-0 run, erasing a dominant third frame for the Greyhounds, and the visiting fans were through the roof.
But the hosts had one more run left in them — one more, game-deciding run.
Down five, Noah Carter followed a Tyrese Joseph bucket with a clutch three to tie the game. After a Raiders turnover, sophomore Jonah Sautter raced down the court and earned a crowd-pleasing hoop and harm to rip the lead from Oak Hill’s grasp for good.
The Raiders didn’t score again, sending Carter and Sautter to line to seal the deal with five more points. The Greyhounds scored the last 12 points of the game to earn a 50-43 victory.
“Motivation. Right there,” Carter, who finished with a game-high 19 points, said of the final fun. “First time Lisbon is going to go somewhere in the playoffs, and it was on all of our minds. We just did it.”
Lisbon (9-8) was plagued by 17 turnovers in the first half, with Oak Hill (5-12) controlling the second frame and taking a five-point lead into the break. But Carter, who was held scoreless until the final minute of the half, hit a trey that pulled the Greyhounds within three and sparked a burst in the second half. The 5-foot-5 guard opened the third quarter with two 3-pointers and 10 points total, putting Lisbon right back in the thick of things.
“We were able to clean it up going into the second half,” Lisbon coach Jake Gentle said. “We were able to convert some easy looks and defensively we just came out a little bit stronger and were able to hold them down a little bit.”
“Definitely slowing it down more,” Carter said of his team’s second half turnaround. “We’re a much better team when we can just slow it down and get the ball moving.
We weren’t really doing that in the first half at all. Being able to do that really helped us out.”
Down 36-34 heading into the fourth quarter, Oak Hill, behind 17 total points from Connor Elwell, responded with the 9-0 run to put Lisbon on its heels. Jonah Martin hit a trey to get the spell started.
“We played as tough as we could,” Oak Hill coach Tom Smith said. “It’s a hostile environment. They just put a run on, and we didn’t respond to it. A couple fouls hurt us and they moved the ball. They scored easy lay-ups.”
Josh Huston and Joseph combined for 18 points for Lisbon, with Sautter controlling the boards and reeling in 13 rebounds.
“We just knew that we weren’t playing as well offensively as we needed to play,” Gentle said. “A lot of that was Oak Hill’s pressure defense. They came out with a lot of energy and took away a lot of the looks that we were trying to get. Give them credit. They played a tremendous defensive game in that first half.”
Senior Dalton Therrien chipped in with nine points for Oak Hill, with Martin tallying eight and center Marcus Bailey adding seven boards and a pair of steals. The Raiders managed 26 percent from the floor. Lisbon shot a much better 47 percent, but was denied many of its looks in the first half because of the Raiders’ press.
“These guys have really been working hard because they want to get to the tournament,” Smith said. “Patience has come a long way. Moving the ball, we started to really buckle down on defense and dig in. It’s starting to pay dividends.”
Joseph pulled in nine boards for Lisbon, who turned it over just five times in the second half. Carter hit four triples.
With the win, Gentle and his team secure a position in the postseason.
“You want to be playing your best basketball going into the playoffs, and I feel we’re getting close to that,” Gentle said. “We still have some things we need to clean up and we have one more game to help rectify those situations.”
The Greyhounds will close their season with a home game against St. Dom’s on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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