The Lisbon Lions boys varsity basketball team fell to second place in the Tri-River East conference last week, after suffering losses to the No. 1 team in the Tri-River West and the No. 2 team in their own conference.
Thursday, Feb. 3
It was a classic showdown of the east and the west Thursday, as the No. 1 team in the Tri-River West conference took on the No. 1 team in the Tri-River East conference, the Lisbon Lions, at Lisbon.
The Lions faced a rare loss to the North Linn Lynx, who improved to 17-1 with the 75-50 win.
The game began to get away from Lisbon in the first quarter, as the period concluded with a 26-10 Linx lead. The Lions had also committed seven turnovers in those eight opening minutes. They would add just four more for the remainder of the game.
Lisbon responded by cutting the lead to seven.
“It’s always tough to walk away from a loss, and one of that magnitude,” said Lions head coach Brandon Horman.
“We have spent a lot of time this season focusing on playing our best basketball in February, and I believe we are doing that,” the coach observed.
“North Linn is a really good team, and despite the final outcome, we had them in positions that they aren’t often in,” he said.
One such position was the Lions were within 12 points of the Lynx with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
“We were in striking distance at that time, and very few teams can say that,” said Horman.
“A lot of teams folded against North Linn in those situations, and we didn’t. We responded, and I’m proud of our guys, and they should be too,” Horman said.
The loss dropped the Lions to 14-3 overall, although they were still in the No. 1 spot in their conference.
Friday, Feb. 4 The Lions headed to take on Easton Valley Friday, then the second place team in the Tri-River East, just behind Lisbon.
The River Hawks sent the Lions home with a 58-38 loss, switching the two teams around on the leaderboard.
“It was a physical battle of two tough teams,” Coach Horman observed. Easton Valley got off to a hot start, and took advantage of us on the inside, which then allowed them to hit a few first half three’s.
“Despite falling behind early our guys continued to battle, and managed to cut the deficit on a number of occasions,” Horman said.
“Easton Valley executed a great defensive game plan making things tough for us. We struggled to put the ball in the hoop in a tough environment,” admitted Horman.
The Lions shot 27 percent from the field for the game.
“It was a tough week with two outstanding opponents, but a great way to help us prepare for the postseason,” Horman said.

Gallery • 1 Photos

Trent Bowman

Lisbon’s Gavin Wollum (No. 34) goes up for a shot in play last week.