Hunter Davis, left, of Lisbon High School and Joshua Linkletter of Madison reach for the ball during the first half in Lisbon on Tuesday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
LISBON — An unlikely shot in the hoop was a shot in the arm for Lisbon on Tuesday night.
But in reality for the Greyhounds, it was everything they did beside shooting that helped them climb out of a hole against Madison and rally for a win.
DJ Douglass hit a long 3-pointer to end the first half and give Lisbon the lead, and the Greyhounds were the better team in the second half of a 60-56 MVC boys’ basketball victory.
“Any time you can have a momentum lift going into the half, it’s a great thing,” Lisbon coach Jake Gentle said. “You know, he’s a really good shooter, he wasn’t shooting well, and then he nailed that one down and he was able to hit some in the second half.”
Douglass had made seven treys in Lisbon’s rout of Carrabec on Monday, but missed his first five attempts from distance Tuesday before nailing a 3-pointer a couple strides past the timeline with two seconds left to give the Greyhounds (7-4) a 28-26 halftime lead. He made three more in the second half to finish with a team-high 17 points.
“He had one long one before halftime that, you know, nothing you can do about that,” Madison coach Jason Furbush said. “I think we kept in him check. We didn’t keep the rest of the team in check like we should have.”
The Bulldogs (5-6) jumped out to a 13-7 lead after one quarter, and were leading 18-10 in the second when the Greyhounds started to make a run. Five points from reserve forward Nick Blair in the period helped right Lisbon’s ship.
“I thought Nick Blair did a great job coming in off the bench and getting a lot of easy put-backs. (Ring) Ring did as well,” Gentle said. “It was important for us because all of our big guys seemed to be picking up really some quick fouls, so we had four of five guys — and Owen (Fish) as well — just were able to sustain that play inside, and it kind of helped us work inside-outside a little better.”
The Greyhounds were whistled for 13 fouls in the first half, and the Bulldogs were in the bonus by the second quarter. That gave Madison 16 free throws in the first half, and the Bulldogs made 10 of them, including four each from Justyn Stinson and Eric Wescott.
A switch to a zone by Lisbon in the second half slowed the whistles against the Greyhounds, who didn’t pick up their first foul in the second half until halfway through the fourth quarter.
“What we did, we just switched to a zone, and I think (Madison) just kind of became a little less aggressive attacking, and kind of settled for more jumpers,” Gentle said. “And it kind of gave us a chance to breathe and be able run some time without getting fouls called on us.”
Fouls hurt the Bulldogs as well, but in both halves. Freshman center Thomas Dean picked up two fouls in the first quarter, which took away one of Madison’s few bigs against a Lisbon team that flashed depth in the frontcourt.
Furbush said losing Dean “hurt us on the boards quite a bit,” but he also lamented his team’s overall lack of effort in defensive rebounding.
Dean showed his worth in the fourth by helping the Bulldogs as they attempted a rally. Down 55-44, Dean made three baskets in less than a minute to make it 55-50 with 2:36 left. A Caden Franzose 3 cut the deficit to 56-53 with 2:14 remaining.
“I wish we could have kept the intensity that we played with for a two- or three-minute stint the whole game,” Furbush said. “We were flat tonight.”
Madison didn’t get any closer though. Douglass made 3 of 4 free throws and Hunter Davis made another to extend the lead to seven.
A Stinson desperation buzzer-beating 3 only served to make the final score look closer.
Wescott scored a game-high 21 points, while Stinson added 13 for Madison, which has now lost four straight games to fall below .500.
Gentle praised his role players stepping up. Ring scored nine points off the bench, and Blair had seven.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Issac Burnell, right,, of Lisbon High School and Adam Silvia of Madison reach for the ball during the first half in Lisbon on Tuesday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
Corey Wiers, right, of Lisbon High School lays up a shot while being defended by Justyn Stinson of Madison during the second half in Lisbon on Tuesday. (daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
Nick Blair of Lisbon High School pulls up for a shot during the first half of Tuesday’s game against Madison. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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