LISBON HIGH SCHOOL Unified basketball player Jake Patenaude (2) hands the ball to teammate Amanda Mason (5) during Thursday’s game against Oceanside. Tyler Ward looks on for the Mariners, who fell, 56-38.
Lisbon High School Unified basketball has turned into quite the program.
In just a few seasons, the group has more than doubled in size and the coaching staff is still growing. At tryouts this year, coach Terri Tlumac and company had more participants than they can keep on the team. To her, it was a pleasant surprise.
Sixteen Greyhounds were in action on Thursday, when a jam-packed gym watched the hosts cruise to a 56-38 win over Oceanside.
“It’s heartwarming that so many people want to be involved,” Tlumac said. “It’s great, the amount of fans we have coming to our games. It’s all around a good thing for this town.”
For student coach Jonah Sautter, who is now joined by Lisbon athletes Jasmin Le and Tyrese Joseph on the bench, it’s been special watching the program grow.
“The first year, not too many people wanted to do it,” Sautter said. “After they saw what it’s all about and the fun that the kids have, more and more people come every year. A lot of people are wanting to do it and it’s just great to have everybody.”
The bulk of the Unified athletes like Jake Patenaude, Amanda Mason and Wesley Lucas are back after a trip to the state championship game last season, as well as student-helpers like Tyler Halls and newcomer Nick Lerette.
With a few new faces and only 40 minutes a game, the challenge is getting everyone on the court.
“We do everything on a two-minute rotation,” Tlumac said. “We have a set rotation so the kids know, then we rotate them every two minutes so everyone gets equal playing time.”
Lots of scorers
The rotation worked well on Thursday, as Lisbon (4-2) jumped out to an early 12-2 lead behind a few buckets from Dawson Martel. Patenaude ( four points) and Mason also found the scoresheet in the first half.
Martel, behind a few assists from Tanton Mattson, scored 12 of his game-high 14 points in the first half as the Greyhounds took a 28-10 lead into the break. After one bucket in the first 20 minutes, Michael Farrington connected on three layups down low in the second to finish with eight points.
Mason scored eight of her 12 in the second half, and newcomers Kristy and Misty Coleman split 12 more down the middle.
In all, nine different Greyhounds scored.
“Yeah, we all want to win and that’s what we’re focused on, but we want everyone to get that moment of scoring,” Sautter said. “ When kids get that feeling, there’s nothing really like it. If one kid’s scoring six or seven points, we want to get other people the ball so we can just even it out a little bit.”
Halls tallied five rebounds and five assists, Mattson finished with seven helpers and Nathan Havlicek added five more boards.
“We’ve been practicing on a lot of stuff,” Patenaude said.
Tyler Ward paced Oceanside (2-2) with 14 points and Isaiah Jones added eight. A few of Ward’s buckets came off unaccredited assists from Lisbon players. Everyone on the floor cleared space for Ward when he loaded up to shoot and if he missed, the Greyhounds grabbed the board and gave him another chance.
The home crowd cheered just as loudly on his buckets.
For those reasons, players like Patenaude are happy to be a part of Unified basketball while they can be.
“It feels great to be on the team again,” Patenaude said. “It’s my last year and I’m hoping to win the championship.”
Lisbon 56, Oceanside 38
Unified basketball At Lisbon High School
| Oceanside — | 10 | 28 | — | 38 | |
| Lisbon | — | 28 | 28 | — | 56 |
Oceanside — Nick Colson 3-0-6, Tyler Ward 7-0-14, Kaytlyn Pierce 1- 0-2, Matt Waldron 1-0-2, Sierra Beal 0-0-0, Ashley Sherman 0-0-0, Ryan Crockett 2-0-4, Cassie Butler 0-0-0, Isaiah Jones 4-0-8, Angel Seiders 1- 0-2, Krista Butler 0-0-0, Zachary Gledhill 0-0-0. Totals — 19-0-38. Lisbon — Brandon Bartlett 1-0-2, Dawson Martel 7-0-14, Wesley Lucas 2-0-4, Tanton Mattson 0-0-0, Nathan Havlicek 0-0-0, Michael Farrington 4- 0-8, Jake Patenaude 2-0-4, Amanda Mason 6-0-12, Nick Lerette 0-0-0, Kristy Coleman 3-0-6, Misty Coleman 3-0-6, Tyler Halls 0-0-0, Noah Williams 0-0-0, Hannah Martel 0-0-0, Timber Mattson 0-0-0. Totals — 28- 0-56. 3-point field goals — None. Records — Lisbon 4-2, Oceanside 2- 2. Up next for the Greyhounds — Monday at Edward Little, 4 p.m.
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