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Blue Devils have a tough task ahead of them

United’s Mollie Briceland shoots over Lisbon’s Alli Davis on Wednesday in a Div. III sectional game. (Salem News/Patti Schaeffer)

LISBON–After an admittedly stale closing stretch of the regular season, the Lisbon girls basketball team saw its energy return in time for Wednesday’s Div. III sectional opener.

Behind lockdown defense in the second quarter and 23 points from senior guard Karlee Pezzano, the third-seeded Blue Devils cruised past 10th-seeded United 56-36 at Nace Gymnasium.

The Blue Devils, who came in having lost four of their last seven games, improve to 18-5 overall and advance to host sixth-seeded South Range in a sectional final at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“We definitely became ourselves again tonight,” Pezzano said. “We haven’t really been playing well and I think we turned that around tonight. Our defense is getting better and our effort is improving. Hopefully things keep getting better from here on out.”

Pezzano took advantage of some transition opportunities during an 8-0 Lisbon run to end the first quarter, which gave the Blue Devils a 24-14 lead. She totaled 15 points in the opening frame while going 9-of-10 from the foul line.

Lisbon’s man-to-man defense smothered the Eagles in the second quarter, limiting them to just three points as the Blue Devils surged to a 36-17 halftime lead. Pezzano and Izzy Perez helped spark the defensive effort with seven steals apiece.

“I wanted to see a lot of energy out of us tonight,” Lisbon coach Jamie Entrikin said. “We’ve been kind of flat. A lot of that’s due to a long season and a lot is due to kids feeling under the weather. I was very happy with what I saw in the first half especially on defense. Once we kept them in front of us, we gave up very few baskets.”

Besides Pezzano’s effort, the Blue Devils got a little of this and that from a variety of sources.

Alexa Bell and Autumn Oehlstrom each logged seven rebounds, while Alli Davis and Maddie Liberati scored seven and six points respectively off the bench. Perez dished out eight assists. The Lisbon bench scored all 12 points in the second quarter.

“I’ve said it all season, we’ve got nine or ten kids that can step in and contribute,” Entrikin said. “It’s not just the seniors. We’ve got one junior and the rest are sophomores and freshmen. They’re getting a lot of good, quality varsity time this season.”

The Eagles (8-15) have struggled to handle pressure defense during the season, and Wednesday was no different. Hannah Mix led United with 11 points. Everyone else was held under five points.

“I wasn’t really happy with the way we played in the first half,” United coach Terry Kellison said. “We came out like our feet were in quicksand a little bit. Lisbon’s a good team that takes advantage of your mistakes. They exploited things we haven’t been able to correct this year.”

The Blue Devils now turn their attention to an improving South Range team, whose 12-11 record hides the fact that the Raiders have tested themselves against a rugged non-conference schedule that included West Branch (fifth-ranked in Div. II) and two games against Canfield (seeded fourth in the Div. I Akron district).

“They did themselves a favor by making their schedule tough,” Entrikin said. “The competition has made them improve from earlier in the year. It’s not just about (Maddie) Durkin now, the rest of them are playing well. They’re shooting well and playing good defense. It’s going to be a tough game.”

Lisbon beat South Range 64-62 early in the season. It was a game the Blue Devils controlled most of the way until a last-minute South Range comeback.

“We’re pretty excited to play them again,” Pezzano said. “We know they’ve gotten better and we know we’re going to have to be on top of our game. Boxing out and lockdown defense will give us the best chance.”

Game notes

¯Lisbon suffered some bumps and bruises in the second half, but nothing that appeared serious. Izzy Perez left the game holding her shoulder after smacking into a hard screen by Haleigh Anderson only to return a short time later. Maddie Liberati left the game after turning her ankle, but Entrikin seemed to think she’d be fine.

“I think Izzy had a stinger,” Entrikin said. “I don’t know what they did to her, but she’s fine. Maddie’s up and moving on her ankle and she should be ok too.”

¯Lisbon also beat United 62-39 in the season-opener.

¯United returns starters Loren Swords, Cameron Pierson and Hannah Mix next season.

“From the first game to this game we made some improvements,” Kellison said. “We have a lot of young kids and I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

UNITED: 14-3-7-12–36

LISBON: 24-12-15-5–56

UNITED SCORING: Loren Swords 2-0-4, Cameron Pierson 1-2-4, Lindsey Donato 1-0-2, Haleigh Anderson 1-3-4, Hannah Mix 2-6-10, Celeste Hofmeister 0-0-0, Molly Briceland 0-3-3, MaKenzie Clemens 1-0-2, Madison Smith 1-0-2, Maddie Dickens 1-0-2, Courtney Cooper 0-0-0, Kyleigh Daggy 0-0-0, Molly Ellyson 0-0-0, Tori Hahlen 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 11, 14-27: 36.

LISBON SCORING: Karlee Pezzano 5-13-23, Mackenzie Mason 1-2-4, Alli Davis 3-0-7, Alexa Bell 1-0-2, Autumn Oehlstrom 2-2-6, Chloe Smith 1-0-2, Izzy Perez 2-0-4, Maddie Liberati 2-2-6, Alyssa Chestnut 0-0-0, Hailee Carpenter 1-0-2, Cadee Johnson 0-0-0, Leslie Burnip 0-0-0, Bryanna Van Giesen 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 18, 19-28: 56.

Three-point goals: Lisbon 1 (Davis).

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