LISBON

Josh Huston rarely is the Lisbon player with the big stats in the morning paper’s box score. He leaves that to teammates Henry Doyle, Jonah Sautter, Sean Scott and Tyrese Joseph.

It is the little things that Huston excels at, like making two key blocks to stop a Mountain Valley third-quarter run, or making two free throws with the game on the line.

On Tuesday in a key Mountain Valley Conference boys basketball game, Huston and his Greyhound teammates put an end to a threegame slide in a 56-48 win over the Falcons.

The victory was big in many ways for Lisbon (6-5). The Greyhounds sat in seventh place in the Class B South Heal Point Standings, four spots ahead of hard-charging Mountain Valley (5-7) in the race to the postseason. And, ending the losing streak with a tough as nails schedule coming up was certainly huge for Lisbon.

“Whenever you lose three in a row, if you can get one it will turn your season around,” said Lisbon coach Jake Gentle. “We knew that Mountain Valley and us are battling for those final three playoff spots, and there are not many Class B schools in our conference. It is always a big game when we play each other. There are plenty of opportunities to move up, and we will see them again in a couple weeks (Feb. 3 at Rumford).

“This is a big win and was a big step for us in a battle of Class B teams,” said Huston. “The higher seed we get will make things better for us. We have Madison here Thursday (7 p.m.), Mt. Abram, at Wiscasset. It is a tough schedule.”

Things appeared to be easy for Lisbon early, as the ’Hounds grabbed a 16-6 first-quarter lead behind eight points from Doyle. Mountain Valley missed six layups and shot 20 percent (3-of-15) in the quarter while committing seven turnovers.

But, the Falcons battled right back in the second behind Keegan Davis. The sophomore scored 11 points, including back-to-back 3- pointers between a trey from Lisbon’s Sean Scott to get Mountain Valley to 25-20. The teams closed the half with a frantic pace, trading 3-pointers and layups as Lisbon carried a 28-26 lead into the intermission.

Mountain Valley charged out of the half, getting consecutive baskets from Parker Davis seconds apart for a 30-28 Falcons edge. The visitors were working hard to get to loose balls, leading to steals and second, and even third chances in the offensive end.

“We have to do a better job of reacting to the situation, where at times we just reach out for the ball rather than just go after it,” said Gentle. “Mountain Valley is really aggressive and wanted to get those loose balls more than we did. They grabbed with two hands and dove on the floor.”

A key point of the game came in that third quarter. On one Mountain Valley possession, Huston jumped up to block shots from Keegan Davis and Jacob Blanchard, keeping the Falcons from extending their lead.

“I try to bring anything from defense to passing, making sure everyone is in the right place, and if I don’t make as many shots or even take as many as everybody, that is OK as long as we win,” said Huston.

“Josh does a lot of those intangibles that don’t pick up in the box score,” said Gentle of Huston, who had four points, three assists and those two blocked shots. “He can score. Defensively he plays very well, grabbing rebounds and controlling the offense for us. He is at point guard this year and is out of position for him. But he has stepped to the challenge.”

Still, Mountain Valley held a 39- 37 lead heading to the fourth quarter, thanks mostly to reserve Will Sorenson, who entered the contest for the first time in the third quarter and quickly put up eight points, including a pair of long treys.

The fourth quarter featured four ties and three lead changes. Tied at 43, Falcon Cam Godbois stepped back and hit a trey. Doyle made 3- of-4 at the free-throw line to tie it again for Lisbon, and Doyle received an inbounds pass from Sautter and scored inside to put Lisbon ahead to stay. A steal by game-long standout Joseph (10 points, 16 rebounds, five steals, four assists) led to a foul, with Huston swishing a pair of free throws for a 50-46 Lisbon lead.

Mountain Valley’s Zach Duguay scored to get the Falcons within two, but Sautter made four straight at the charity stripe, with Scott finishing the visitors with two more freebies to complete the 56-48 win.

Doyle scored a game-high 17 points for Lisbon, with Scott adding 13, including three 3-pointers and seven boards. Sautter finished with nine points and six rebounds. Lisbon shot 36 percent (18-of-50) from the floor and made 16-of-22 at the line, including a 13- for-15 performance in the fourth quarter.

Keegan Davis scored all 13 of his points in the first half to lead the Falcons, who shot 32 percent (19-of- 59) from the field. He also had 10 boards and blocked three shots. Blanchard added eight points along with Sorenson. The Mountain Valley bench scored all 22 of the Falcons’ points in the second half, with Godbois chipping in seven.

Lisbon 56, Mountain Valley 48

At Lisbon

Mtn.		Valley	—	6	20	13	9	—	48
Lisbon		—		16	12	9	19	—	56

Mountain Valley — Zach Burgess 1-0-2, Taylor Pelletier 0-0-0, Jacob Blanchard 4-0-8, Will Bean 0-1-1, Keegan Davis 4-3-13, Parker Davis 2-0-4, Zach Duguay 1-0-2, Cam Godbois 3-0- 7, Hunter Ames 1-1-3, Will Sorenson 3-0-8. Totals — 19-5-48. Lisbon — Henry Doyle 6-5-17, Jonah Sautter 2-5-9, Josh Huston 1-2-4, Sean Scott 4-2-13, Tyrese Joseph 4-2-10, Lucas Francis 0-0-0, DJ Douglass 1-0-3, Andrew Balser 0-0-0. Totals — 18-16-56. 3-point field goals — (MtnV) K. Davis 2, Sorenson 2, Godbois; (L) Scott 3, Douglass. Records — Lisbon 6-5; Mountain Valley 5-7. Up next for the Greyhounds — Thursday at home against Madison, 7 p.m.

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