LISBON HIGH SCHOOL’S Josh Huston (20) swats at a rebound as Winthrop’s Jared McLaughlin watches it bounce away during their MVC game in Winthrop on Saturday.
Winthrop High School finally shook Lisbon in the fourth quarter to win 62-47 and remain undefeated in boys’ Mountain Valley Conference basketball action Saturday.
Led by Garrett Tsouprake, the Ramblers went on a 15-0 run that spanned most of the final period that extended a 45- 42 lead to 60-42. Tsouprake scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth.
Winthrop coach Todd MacArthur said better defense and feeding the post were the catalysts for the Ramblers’ dominant fourth quarter.
“Garrett stepped up when we needed him,” MacArthur said. “He really picked his game up and played physical and played like a man, and scored with contact and scored and got fouled. He’s capable of doing that.”
Eighteen of Tsouprake’s points came after halftime.
The Greyhounds entered the fourth quarter down 42-35 after Winthrop’s Jared McLaughlin drilled a corner trey to beat the third-quarter buzzer. Lisbon’s DJ Douglass hit his third 3- pointer of the game early in the fourth to cut Winthrop’s lead to three points, 45-42.
Then the Ramblerswent on a tear. Tsouprake scored the first five points and then finished the 15-0 run with an and-one with 44 seconds remaining in the game.
“I think that we grind teams down, we wear them down because of our pressure for 94 feet over the course of four quarters,” MacArthur said. “Teams get tired. And I think that we do a good job capitalizing; when we see them get tired, we have success.”
By the time Henry Doyle ended the run with a lay-up, there was less than 30 seconds to play in the game.
“They’re really deep,” Lisbon coach Jake Gentle said. “They go like 10 guys deep, they can wear you down, they don’t get tired. They have a great defensive team, they’re going to force some turnovers when they know the other team has to press and attack.”
Winthrop (11-0) appeared ready to pull away late in the first half when it held a 24-14 lead, but Lisbon (5-5) scored the final eight points of the second quarter and the first two of the third to tie the game at 24-24. The Ramblers led most of the third, but were unable to build a lead larger than six points until McLaughlin’s buzzer beater.
Jacob Hickey finished with 15 hard-earned points for Winthrop, and Cam Wood scored 12.
Nate LeBlanc provided a few sparks off the bench throughout the game and finished with eight points. He hit a 3-pointer for the Ramblers’ first field goal after they were held to two free throws in the first half of the opening quarter. He also scored some hustle points, getting buckets after a couple of offensive rebounds.
Doyle’s 15 points were Lisbon’s high. Tyrese Joseph finished with 11 points. Most of Joseph’s points came from putbacks, but he also ended the game with a buzzer-beating 3- pointer.
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