WISCASSET — During Wiscasset’s recently completed three-game road trip, the Wolverines found the going tough. After starting the year with eight straight wins, losses to Monmouth, Dirigo and Carrabec followed.

Wiscasset returned home on Wednesday to face Lisbon in a key Mountain Valley Conference boys basketball game, with the Wolverines hoping the home cooking might just do them some good.

It wasn’t easy, as Lisbon erased a 22-point second-half deficit, closing to within four points late in regulation before Wiscasset pulled out a 69-61 win, giving the Wolverines a 9-3 mark.

“Hopefully this win is real big for us,” said Wiscasset coach Dana Lawrence, whose Wolverines visit St. Dom’s on Thursday at 7 p.m. This starts another three-game road trip for Wiscasset, which visits Winthrop on Jan. 22 and Boothbay on Jan. 25.

“We played real well in the first half, but maybe thought it would be easy in the second half,” Lawrence added. “Obviously it wasn’t. We didn’t execute and take care of some of our decision making. We allowed them to get back into the game. But, we showed that composure late, taking care of the ball and doing some good things on defense.”

“We are trying to do a better job in putting a complete game together,” Lisbon coach Jake Gentle said. “We went a good stretch of the game where we weren’t getting stops and taking good shots on the offensive side. We need to limit that and respond better when we’re not getting good offensive flow.”

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Wiscasset jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Ethan James paced the Wolverines with nine first-quarter points.

Jonah Sautter brought Lisbon back, with his eight points in the opening quarter allowing the Greyhounds to chip away and draw to 19-13 after a quarter.

“We have to understand that we can’t allow teams to score the first 10 points against us,” said Gentle, who said this is an old story for his Greyhounds. “It happened at Boothbay when we allowed the first 11 then came back and only lost by seven.”

Lisbon trailed 24-18 when Wiscasset’s Brandon Sprague took over. He scored 14 of his 16 first-half points in the second quarter, including four consecutive 3-pointers as the Wolverines carried a 35-22 lead into the intermission.

“We were playing good defense along with making three or four good passes on offense, giving us good looks,” Sprague said.

Wiscasset replay

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Just like in the first quarter, Wiscasset started the second half hot. Kevin Lynch scored four quick points, with James going inside for two and Sprague hitting from the corner for a 44-22 lead.

After being out-rebounded 18-6 in the first half, the Greyhounds began battling harder on the boards. Lisbon chipped away again, with Sautter matching teammate Tyrese Joseph with seven third-quarter points. Noah Carter chipped in five as the Greyhounds closed to 51-41 through 24 minutes.

“We are one of those teams that can be down by 50 and we will never give up,” said Sautter, who led the Greyhounds with 21 points. “We played great, solid defense and just kept on fighting. We haven’t been able to put together a solid first half. If we can do that, we will be right there.”

“Lisbon is always tough and plays with a lot of intensity,” said Sprague. “They just never give up.”

Lisbon kept coming in the fourth quarter. Sautter sank a pair of free throws to get the ’Hounds to 51-44, and Joseph finished off a pass from Carter for a trey to close Lisbon to 53-48.

James tallied four quick points to restore the Wiscasset lead to 57-48, but back came Lisbon, with Sautter driving for two points and Josh Huston swishing a deep 3-pointer to bring the Greyhounds within four points, 57-53.

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“We played with a lot of heart and were able to claw our way back,” Gentle said. “We did a good job keeping them off the glass during that run.”

Wiscasset was able to close things out from there. Sprague scored four more points, including a pair of free throws.

“Brandon had a good shooting game, and defensively he does things that often go unnoticed,” said Lawrence of Sprague, who had 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Nate Woodman helped put Lisbon away with a pair of offensive putbacks. He finished with eight points, along with teammates Cody Roberts and Kevin Lynch. James picked up 16 points and six boards.

For Lisbon, Joseph scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, while Carter added 16 points. Joseph picked up eight rebounds and dished out three assists, with Huston adding five assists and five rebounds.

At the free-throw line, Wiscasset was 14-of-17, while Lisbon finished 12-of-18.


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