LISBON — It was the kind of first quarter Doug Lisherness was worried about.

He had already seen that Lisbon had beaten or played well against some tough Mountain Valley Conference foes. So coming off a tough loss Saturday and being shorthanded, the Mt. Abram girls’ coach had reason to be nervous Monday.

“I was concerned,” said Lisherness. “After that Spruce Mountain game and then losing a player coming down here, my team isn’t always a mentally tough team.”

The Roadrunners looked a little sluggish in the first half against the Greyhounds, scoring just two points in the opening quarter. Then Mt. Abram readjusted and refocused to pull away for a 47-35 victory.

The Roadrunners produced a strong second and third quarter that erased a Lisbon lead and opened up a double-digit advantage in a win between two Western C teams battling for playoff positioning. Mt. Abram (8-7) is seventh in the latest Heal Point standings while Lisbon (6-8) is ninth.

Mt. Abram had scored  just 11 points against the Phoenix at halftime Saturday night before losing 31-22

“We needed to come out strong,” said junior guard Mikayla Luce. “We were missing one of our top players. We knew (Lisbon) was right behind us. We’re seventh and they’re (ninth). So we knew had to come out strong. We play as a team, and it’s hard to lose one player.”

Mt. Abram was missing a regular because of eligibility. That left the Roadrunners with nine players,  even more shorthanded than usual. After struggling through the first quarter, the Roadrunners settled in and played well to earn the win.

“We usually don’t do that,” Lisherness said of adjusting after a bad opening quarter. “I think they’re maturing quite a bit. When I call timeout, the girls are talking and saying some good things now. They never used to say anything. I think they’re starting to mature here.”

Mt. Abram’s post players of Miranda Smith and Annie Dexter led the Roadrunners with 16 and 10 points, respectively. Luce chipped in nine.

“I thought Miranda and Annie had good games underneath,” Lisherness said. “We didn’t do anything to wow you, but it was a good team effort all around. Everybody contributed.”

Lisbon was led by Alexa Harmon’s 13 points, including four 3-pointers. Denise Thomas added nine points off the bench, while Jessica Harmon had eight.

After building the early 7-2 lead in the first quarter, the Greyhounds went more than five minutes without scoring and more than 11 minutes without a field goal. Mt. Abram’s zone reduced the Lisbon offense to outside shots and a few tries in the post that didn’t go.

“We did a good job on the boards and overall, we limited them to one shot,”  Lisherness said. “We kept them outside quite a bit. I was really happy with our defense.”

It was a Harmon 3-pointer that made it 7-2 late in the first. Then, Mt. Abram opened the second with 11 straight points. After a Sam Werzanski jumper and a Luce free throw, Werzanski converted a steal and Jill Howard hit a jumper. Then Dexter scored on a fast break to make it 13-7.

Mt. Abram shot 1 for 12 in the first, but hit four of its first six shots in the second quarter. Lisbon missed all seven field-goal attempts in the second and scored just two Campbell free throws with 3:02 left.

“We always practice good defense, and we just came off a loss to Spruce Mountain,” Luce said.

Leading 15-9 at the half, Luce sparked a run to open the third with a 7-0 run. Harmon hit a 3-pointer, Lisbon’s first field goal since her basket late in the first. Mt. Abram answered with another eight straight points. Werzanski hit a jumper and Smith scored six consecutive points to make it 30-12 with 2:12 left in the third.

“Our defense came with that,” Luce said. “Good defense creates good offense.”

Lisbon had its best offensive flurry late in the third quarter with an 8-2 run to make it 32-20 after three quarters. Harmon had a 3, while Campbell and Thomas each hit field goals. Lisbon got as close as 37-26 on a rebound by Jennifer Smith, but Mt. Abram maintained the lead. Dexter led an 8-2 run with six points late in the fourth.

“I thought we showed more patience on offense than we have all year long,” Lisherness said. “We finally got rid of the pregame jitters. I think the girls were a little too tight at first.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

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