Lisbon holds off Moriah in Class C sub-regional

PLATTSBURGH | Lisbon survived a late push from Moriah and held on for a 32-30 victory on Wednesday, March 11, in a NYSPHSAA Class C girls basketball sub-regional at Clinton Community College. Trailing by two points in the closing seconds, Moriah had multiple chances in the frontcourt to tie or take the lead. The Vikings inbounded the ball three times inside 34.6 seconds remaining but managed only one shot attempt, which was blocked. The possession ended with an errant pass out of bounds with 5.1 seconds left. Moriah attempted to extend the game by fouling but still needed five team fouls to put Lisbon on the free-throw line. The Vikings tried to force turnovers on three consecutive Lisbon inbounds plays, but the Golden Knights were able to run out the clock. "Well, once it got down to the corner, I got nervous. Not where you want to be with eight seconds left," Moriah head coach Gary Olcott said of the Vikings' final possession. "And let's credit Lisbon. That was a great defense they played, and we struggled to get good looks. I almost called a timeout with eight seconds and tried to reset, but I didn't want to burn that last timeout. I should've, probably looking back at it, but yeah, it wasn't what we wanted." Moriah tied the game at 28-28 following Maggie Speshock's free throw with 3:42 remaining and Emma Harrington's basket inside with 3:07 left. Lisbon answered with the game's decisive stretch, as Sophia Walker and Allison Bell scored on consecutive possessions to restore a 32-28 advantage with 2:35 and 2:11 remaining. Moriah pulled within 32-30 on a basket by Lexi Cheney with 1:45 left, but the Vikings were unable to score again. "In this game, four points, it seemed like 20, especially when you're struggling to get good looks," Olcott said. The Vikings held only one lead in the second half. Harrington connected on a running floater from just inside the free-throw line with 3:16 remaining in the third quarter to give Moriah a 22-21 edge, its first lead since holding a 5-4 advantage in the opening period. Moriah, typically a strong perimeter shooting team, finished with just three 3-pointers, including one after the first quarter, and went 7-for-14 from the free-throw line. "I was happy with our dribble penetration, but you've got to make free throws," Olcott said. "They win and lose games. I felt like that easily could have been a reason we lost the game, our foul shooting. Fifty percent is not what you want." Bell, who has verbally committed to Nazareth University, led all scorers with 19 points for Lisbon, including 10 in the first quarter. Harrington paced Moriah with 11 points, while Lexi Mascarenas added eight and Emmy Nephew chipped in five. Lisbon advanced to face No. 4-ranked Greenwich (24-1) in the state quarterfinals Saturday. Moriah finished its season with CVAC Division II, Section VII Class C and Section VII Champions Challenge titles. "I really couldn't be happier with the season," Olcott said. "Like I told the girls, you're down to eight teams in New York state. You're not going to get an easy win at this point in the year. "They left everything out there, especially the seniors."

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Lisbon holds off Moriah in Class C sub-regional

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