LISBON FALLS – Coaches preach finishing, but sometimes the way a team starts makes all the difference.

Swarming defense and a scorching field goal percentage worked hand-in-hand to give Lisbon a double-digit lead in the first three minutes Saturday. Hall-Dale’s inevitable, gradual comeback couldn’t completely overcome that damage, and the Greyhounds escaped with a 42-39 Mountain Valley Conference girls’ basketball victory at Manchester Gymnasium.

The headlines will show that Renee Moore sank a technical free throw with 7.9 seconds to break a tie and that Kelly Bourgoin knocked down both halves of a double-bonus to ice it. Somewhere in the fine print you’ll find the details of an early 15-2 lead that Lisbon (2-1) nursed and sorely needed.

“I think we were more relaxed,” said Lisbon senior guard Kelly Bourgoin. “We were capitalizing on our turnovers we were causing.”

Eleven giveaways, interceptions and violations helped the Greyhounds’ cause in the first quarter. That total inflated to 39 Hall-Dale turnovers in the game.

Lisbon compounded the perfect storm by sinking seven of its first eight attempts from the floor, allowing the small, scrappy Greyhounds to set up their full-court press and cash in repeatedly.

The resulting advantage of a baker’s dozen with 4:41 remaining in the first quarter turned out to be Lisbon’s largest of the game.

It shrank to 10 points at halftime, nine at the end of the third quarter. Then it completely evaporated after Hall-Dale (2-1) held Lisbon without a field goal for the final 5:42 of regulation.

“Everyone thinks the game was lost in the last seven seconds,” said Hall-Dale coach Wes Brann. “The game was lost in the first three-and-a-half minutes.”

Ariel Howes’ bank-shot 3-pointer whittled Lisbon’s advantage to one point, 39-38, with 1:47 remaining. Twenty-six seconds later, Taylor Massey nailed the second of two free throw attempts to cap a 9-0 run and pull Hall-Dale even.

Bourgoin’s drive along the right baseline drew a fateful foul from Howes in the closing seconds. Howes then was immediately assessed a technical for picking up the loose basketball and slamming it to the floor.

That should have settled the issue. Bourgoin missed both of her freebies, however, and Moore’s first try on the technical rattled around the rim and out.

After Moore’s go-ahead make, Bourgoin corraled the ensuing inbounds pass and atoned by swishing a pair. Moore’s steal at midcourt prevented Hall-Dale from getting off a potential game-tying 3-pointer.

“There’s going to be a lot of close games for us,” said Lisbon coach Jake Gentle, whose team’s first three verdicts have been settled by five points or fewer. “The good thing for us is we’re deep.”

Moore led all scorers with 17 points to go with 12 rebounds and four steals. Bourgoin coupled 10 points with nine steals. Sam Purcell produced eight points and nine boards.

Massey, a 6-foot sophomore, bolstered the Bulldogs with 12 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Howes concluded with nine points, five in the fourth quarter. Hall-Dale’s defense buckled down and held Lisbon to a lengthy, 5-for-31 cold snap after its toasty start.