FARMINGDALE – Lisbon High School waited patiently Monday through Hall-Dale High School’s senior night ceremony, a classy, 30-minute presentation that paid tribute to each of the nine seniors’ parents, favorite coaches and most influential teachers.

Once the Mountain Valley Conference girls’ basketball showdown started, however, it was a certain six-foot junior who ensured all the happy memories for posterity.

Taylor Massey didn’t waste time making an impact in a rare appearance off the bench, erupting for 19 points and 10 rebounds in the Bulldogs’ 41-29 victory.

Massey blocked two third-quarter shots and altered countless others throughout the game, taking a healthy bite out of Lisbon’s shooting percentage. The Greyhounds (13-4) were 9-for-38 (24 percent) overall and 2-of-16 in the second half.

“She’s a monster,” Lisbon senior Shelby Brannon said of Massey. “She’s very quick, too. We tried everything we could to get the ball inside, but they were just too tall.”

Hall-Dale (13-4) also received length and intensity from Kristina Buck, a sophomore and the eighth player off the Bulldogs’ bench. 

Buck scored a basket during a decisive 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter. She played an even larger role in harassing Lisbon’s Renee Moore throughout the final period. Moore scored six points in that stanza but labored feverishly for them, chalking up four at the free-throw line.

“That’s the second game in a row where she’s come up big,” Hall-Dale coach Brandon Terrill said of the 5-9 Buck, “Up at Dirigo, we put her on Jane Hebert and she shut her down in the fourth quarter after Hebert had given us fits the whole game. And that opens it up for Massey, (Carylanne) Wolfington and (Hailey) Longfellow to play really good defense on everybody else. I think defense could be our calling card down the stretch.”

Moore scored 12 points and hauled down 12 rebounds for Lisbon, which appears locked into the No. 6 spot in the Western Class B Heal Point standings and a quarterfinal matchup with either Greely or Lake Region in two weeks.

Lisbon’s best chance to spoil Class C Hall-Dale’s senior showcase came early, when the Bulldogs went with an all-upper class starting lineup.

Massey and Wolfington took a few minutes to find their footing after assuming their customary place on the court, and Lisbon bolted to early leads of 5-2 and 9-8 at quarter’s end.

Missed free throws haunted the Greyhounds, who were 1-of-6 in the period and 4-for-10 in the half.

“Everybody talks about what you did in the fourth quarter, but those shots you miss in the first quarter are just as important,” said Lisbon coach Jake Gentle. “I think we were 1-for-10 from 3-point land. Hall-Dale played great defense, and I thought we did for the most part.”

Massey scored seven of Hall-Dale’s eight points in the first quarter.

Erika Brann drilled a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs in front to start the second period. The lead grew to five on a Massey put-back. Massey converted again when Jess Woods found her down low at the end of a 3-on-2 break.

“She’s the best tall girl in the MVC, I think,” Gentle said of Massey. “You try to front her, and they lob it to her and she just goes up and gets it.”

Jessica Campbell’s coast-to-coast drive triggered an 8-2 Lisbon run, ending in a bank-shot 3-pointer by Amber Cloutier for a 19-18 lead. But Woods worked the ball inside to Kerry Fredette with seven seconds remaining to give Hall-Dale the lead for good.

Moore’s lay-up with 3:36 left was Lisbon’s lone field goal of the third quarter. 

Hall-Dale forced six Lisbon turnovers and put five different players in the scoring column while holding the Greyhounds scoreless for the next seven minutes.

“We talked about being able to experience the emotion of senior night and letting the girls enjoy the limelight, but then regroup and refocus,” Terrill said. “I thought we did pretty well with that.”

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