LISBON — Maybe it was because Monday was a holiday, one day after a snowstorm dumped a foot or more on many us. Or maybe it was because the game began at 1 p.m.
But the performance by the Lisbon High School girls’ basketball team against Spruce Mountain will be one the Greyhounds and coach Julie Petrie hope to forget.
In front of a sparse crowd, the Phoenix held Lisbon to just two field goals in a 45-11 Mountain Valley Conference victory.
The win ended a four-game losing skid for Spruce Mountain, which improved to 8-6. Petrie’s squad suffered a sixth straight defeat and sit at 1-12.
“It was awful. There seemed to be a lid on the basket and we were in a fog,” said Petrie. “It was a weird day. We had no rhythm offensively or defensively. We didn’t show up.”
Spruce Mountain forced Lisbon into hurried shots throughout, and the Phoenix rebounded the ball well, holding a 52-35 edge on the boards.
“Our defense has never been a question, but today it was as dominant as it has been,” Spruce Mountain coach Zach Keene said. “We made them uncomfortable. The last couple of games we have not been great on the glass. Today we were.”
The Phoenix showed their defensive strength in the opening quarter as Lisbon missed all 13 of its field goal attempts and trailed 11-0 through eight minutes.
Lisbon finally hit its first field goal with 5:51 left until halftime as Valerie Doucette swished a 3-pointer. A pair of free throws by Carly Drischler (six points) drew the Greyhounds to 13-5.
But, Spruce Mountain scored the final seven points of the half, with Calley Baker coming off the Phoenix bench for all nine of her team’s points in the quarter for a 20-5 halftime lead.
“Her energy was huge for us and has been all year. Today, on a Monday with not many people here, she picked us up,” said Keene.
“I started off good, which means I was going to have a big game,” said Baker, who finished with 11 points. “I just tried to give us a lot of energy. I was shoveling this morning, so I was up early.”
Lisbon made just 1-of-23 field goal attempts in the opening half and was outrebounded 25-14 by the Phoenix.
Any thoughts of a Lisbon comeback ended early in the second half, as Spruce Mountain scored the first 10 points for a 30-5 lead before Destiney Deschaines made a free throw for Lisbon’s only point of the frame.
Even Petrie chuckled on a fourth-quarter play. During a scramble, she called a timeout. As the referee granted the stoppage, a shot by Greyhound Sarah Charest swished through the twine, negating the bucket. It was just one of those days for Lisbon.
“Defensively we were not doing bad. But offensively, it was gross,” said Petrie.
Lisbon went nearly 20 game minutes without a field goal, with Drischler putting in her own miss with 1:55 remaining in the fourth quarter for Lisbon’s second and final field goal.
Meanwhile, Spruce Mountain seemed to find an offensive flow, with Jaycee Cole (11 points) and Haley Turcotte (12 points) making some big shots. The Phoenix shot 29 percent (18-of-61) for the game and made 4-of-8 at the free-throw line.
“A win on the road is big anytime,” said Keene, whose Phoenix host Winthrop on Thursday at 7 p.m. in a key MVC matchup.
Kaylin Knowlton led the Spruce Mountain defense with 13 rebounds and three steals to go along with four points. Emily White had eight boards, Baker picked up a double-double with 10 rebounds, and Cole dished out six assists and had six steals.
Charlee Cox led the Greyhounds with eight rebounds, while Doucette pulled in six caroms. Drischler and Siara Martin had four steals apiece.
Lisbon hosts Telstar on Thursday at 7 p.m.
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