WINTHROP — It’s been so far, so good for the Lisbon girls’ basketball team.

Despite losing much of their starting lineup from a year ago, the Greyhounds have started this campaign with a little momentum. After beating Mt. Abram on opening night, Lisbon made it 2-0 with a 51-24 win over Winthrop on Monday.

“We didn’t really know what to expect,” said Lisbon coach Julie Wescott. “We’ve had some girls step in and fill some big roles. They work hard day in and day out. You’re only going to get better with the effort you put in. I’ve been pleased so far.”

Lisbon used nine straight points in the first quarter and an 11-2 run to build a 13-6 lead after one. Then 11 straight to open the second quarter allowed the Greyhounds to pull away.

“It’s nice,” Wescott said. “We had a big win over Mt. Abram. My philosophy with them is, we’re young. We’re just going to take it game by game and use every game to get better.”

 Denise Thomas, a spark off the bench last year, led the Greyhounds with 16 while Mia Durgin added 14, including 10 in the second quarter. Bailey Madore had 11 while Adrianna White chipped in eight.

“We have some solid shooters,” Wescott said. “We spread the ball around. It’s not like there’s one girl. We work as a team. They have the green light to shoot it. We just have to crash the boards and finish the layups and the bunnies.”

Winthrop got a nice effort from Shauna Carlson. She finished with nine and had eight of the Ramblers’ first 10 points. Jessica Scott added eight.

Winthrop was plagued by 20 turnovers in the first half and 2-for-21 shooting. The Ramblers had some good looks in close, but couldn’t finish.

“We rushed our shots and we’re not really good defensively right now,” said Winthrop coach Lonney Steeves, who was missing his starting point guard, Cat Ouellette, to illness. “We’re going to get better.”

Lisbon had ample turnovers and missed some shots early as well, but still hit enough to build the lead.  White scored on a pair of rebounds in the first while Durgin and Madore each chipped in baskets. Thomas had five points overall as the Greyhounds built the 13-6 lead.

“Offensively, I didn’t think we started out that well,” Wescott said. “We missed some bunnies. Sitting here for awhile (during two boys games), it was a long night and you have to get yourself acclimated into game mode. Once we adjusted, we did fairly well.”

Durgin had eight of Lisbon’s first 11 as the Greyhounds opened a 24-6 lead in the second. Madore had a basket and two free throws during that run. That led to a 26-10 lead at the half.

Winthrop showed some energy in the third. The Ramblers scored seven straight and had a 9-2 run that got them within 32-19. Scott had five points during that stretch while Randi Dennett added four.

“That little press in the second half, that was a bright spot,” Steeves said. “We pressed effectively for a little while.”

Lisbon settled in and got a White rebound and seven straight from Thomas during a 13-2 run that put the Greyhounds up 43-19 after three.

kmills@sunjournal.com

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