Lisbon High School boys basketball coach Jake Gentle realizes he has a lot of work to do to get his Greyhounds back to respectability.

Tuesday night against Mountain Valley Conference rival Wiscasset, Gentle watched his team struggle after a solid start in a 67-42 setback and will hope for better results tonight at Oak Hill (7 p.m.).

For Wiscasset coach Dana Lawrence, he is becoming more excited about his team every day, with the Wolverines expected to receive a test on Friday at home against Spruce Mountain at 7 p.m. after improving to 3-1.

“It is nice to see the kids working patiently, making the extra couple passes and setting up the offense,” said Lawrence, whose team forced 24 turnovers, shot 44 percent from the floor (24 of 54) and made good on 15 of 16 free throws, including a 6-for-6 effort in the fourth quarter. “It is easy to play when you get a little bit of a lead, and our confidence grew as we went on and began moving the ball well.”

“We weren’t getting great looks and struggled to run our half-court offense, something we will have to do a better job at,” said Gentle, whose Greyhounds dropped to 1-3.

The start was superb for Lisbon, which hit its first four shots and built a quick 9-3 lead.

That was about as good as it got for the Greyhounds as Wiscasset switched to a fullcourt press, causing eight first-quarter turnovers during a 16-0 quarter-closing run for a 19-9 advantage.

Two Lisbon timeouts did little to slow the Wolverines.

“It was a nice way to start, but we just didn’t continue that pace and they responded,” said Gentle. “A good portion of it was our defensive rotation, and we let up some penetration by getting extended too far.

“It’s a learning curve, and we have to figure out that when a team goes on a run and we call a timeout we have to come out and get some multiple stops.”

Lisbon trailed 32-18 at the half after committing 18 turnovers in the first 16 minutes.

Early going

Brad Groh scored four early points for Lisbon before two quick fouls sent the senior to the bench.

Wiscasset turned to Dale Peaslee and Austin Haskell as the Wolverines began causing turnovers. Peaslee and Haskell each scored six points in the opening quarter, with Haskell’s jumper giving Wiscasset its first lead, 11-9.

“We didn’t know a lot about Lisbon coming in and decided we couldn’t sit back,” said Lawrence.

After a Lisbon timeout, Haskell stole the ball twice and scored for a 15-9 lead, and Peaslee finished off the quarter with the final four points for a 10-point edge.

Travis Padilla had nine points at the half for Wiscasset.

Lisbon nearly doubled its firsthalf point total in the third quarter, scoring 17 points as Kendal Roy hit back- to- back 3- pointers and Kyle Sheehan came off the bench to chip in four points.

But, Wiscasset answered behind four points each from Matt Johnson and Dylan McMahon to take a 51-35 advantage to the fourth quarter.

“When we went to the press, we were able to get some steals that led to some lay-ups,” said Peaslee, who matched Padilla with a game-high 16 points, while Haskell chipped in 13. Peaslee led the Wolverines with eight rebounds and picked up four steals. Padilla had five rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Haskell had a game-high five steals.

Mason Haley led Lisbon with eight points, while Sheehan chipped in seven, and Tucker Brannon and Roy six each. Brannon pulled down five rebounds and had four steals, while Jacob Bremmer had four caroms.

The Greyhounds were 16 of 46 (34 percent) from the floor and made seven of 11 free throws. Lisbon was outrebounded 30-16.

Wiscasset 67, Lisbon 42

At Wiscasset High School
Lisbon — 9 9 17 7 — 42
Wiscasset — 19 13 19 16 — 67
Lisbon — Mason Haley 3-2-8, Tucker Brannon 2-1-
6, Nick Collins 0-0-0, Brad Groh 2-1-5, Jacob Bremmer 1-1-3, Johnny Yim 0-0-0, Kendal Roy 2-0-6,
Kyle Sheehan 3-1-7, Kyle Bourget 0-0-0, Mike Kilby
2-1-5, Cole Greaves 1-0-2. Totals — 16-7-42.
Wiscasset — Chandler Longfellow 2-0-5, Travis
Padilla 6-3-16, Dylan McMahon 1-2-4, Dale Peaslee
4-8-16, Austin Haskell 5-2-13, John Rines 1-0-3,
Zach Ellison 1-0-2, JD Souza 1-0-2, Matt Johnson 3-
0-6, Matthew Craig 0-0-0, Nate Mills 0-0-0. Totals —
24-15-67.
3-point goals — (L) Brannon, Roy 2; (W) Longfellow, Padilla, Haskell, Rines.
Records — Wiscasset 3-1, Lisbon 1-3.
Next — Lisbon visits Oak Hill tonight at 7 p.m., while
the Wolverines host Spruce Mountain on Friday at 7
p.m.