Leetonia’s Carson Brock goes to the hole while Lisbon’s Hunter Dailey (15) and Lisbon’s Tate Whalen (14) meet Friday night.
LISBON – Lisbon continues its early dominance of the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference after dominating Leetonia 72-37 on Friday.
“We have a long way to go, we only have a few games left.” Lisbon coach Chris Hochsjöld said. “There’s still a lot of basketball to play, and a lot of teams are going to get better as the season goes on because they’re playing with younger kids, and we’re going to keep getting better every time,” he added.
Lisbon is 6-0 and 4-0 in the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference. The Blue Devils have the outright lead. Litonia drops to 1-4 and 1-3 in the league.
“There are very few teams that will be able to compete with (Lisbon) in our league.” Leetonia coach Michael Hayne said. “This is their year (in Lisbon), these players play together all year, they have good chemistry and that’s hard to beat.”
Lisbon went to work quickly as Trevor Siefke scored eight points in the first quarter as the Blue Devils outscored the Bears 25-5.
Leetonia got going in the second quarter as Ashby Merritt scored seven points, but the Blue Devils went on to take a 42-18 halftime lead.
The Bears did a better job of controlling Siefke in the second half of play, but Siefke’s isolation allowed other players to be left open.
“I wanted to try to slow them down and get back into the half.” Hein said. “I wanted to try to limit their outside shooting, which we didn’t do successfully.”
Lisbon senior Alex Schreffler was the next man up for the Blue Devils in the second half as he contributed seven second-half points, including a 3-pointer in the third quarter.
“Everyone on this team can have a great night on any given night.” Schreffler said. “I just thank them for stopping by and giving me open looks.”
“It’s a yang, if teams try to take one thing, they will give up something.” Hochsjöld said. “We just have kids stepping up and making shots and you give that opportunity and hope they achieve more than they miss out on.”
Siefke led the Blue Devils with 20 points and six assists, while Schreffler finished with 13 points and three assists. Luke Craft had 10 points and ten rebounds, while Hunter Dailey had nine points, 12 rebounds and seven steals. Tate Whalen had six points and three blocks.
Leetonia will continue to try different game plans to achieve success.
“This is the key” Hein said. “These kids have to have the resiliency to take a loss like tonight and get back to practice tomorrow and get ready to face Valley Christian.”
“They (Letonia) are a much improved basketball team.” Hochsjöld said. “They just have to keep plugging in and keep working.”
Leetonia Ashby-Merritt led the way with 14 points, and Carson Brock added 13 points.
Lisbon’s junior varsity won 46-12.
Alex Brown led the Blue Devils with 17 points.
Dylan Jones led Leetonia with eight points.
Lisbon is scheduled to play at Southern on Tuesday. South School was closed Thursday and Friday due to illness and the boys and girls basketball games were postponed.
Leetonia will host Valley Christian on Tuesday.
Game notes
¯ Lisbon won its 1,040th game in program history.
¯ Lisbon will play three games in Florida from December 27-29.
The: 5-13-9-10-37
Me: 17-25-19-11
Leetonia Record: Ashby Merritt 5-3-14, Ethan Mancuso 1-0-2, Carson Brock 5-0-13, Cam Roller 1-0-2, Eric DeCross 0-0-0, Dylan Jones 1-0-3 , C.J. Faulkner 1-0-3. Team total: 14, 3-8: 37
Lisbon Score: Logan Stover 1-0-3, Luke Craft 4-2-10, Trevor Siefke 8-1-20, Alex Brown 0-0-0, Tate Whalen 2-1-6, Hunter Dailey 2-5-9 . Austin Dailey 4-0-8, Alex Schreffler 4-3-13, Blaine Barnes 0-0-0, Tim Brandon 0-0-0, Aiden Myers 0-0-0, Paxton Henthorn 0-0-0, Logan Fish Sturgeon 1-0-3, Zeller Mundy 0-0-0, Brady Lively 0-0-0. Team total: 26, 12-17: 72.
Three-point goals: Litonia 6 (Brook 3, Merritt, Jones, Faulkner), Lisbon 8 (Sivke 3, Schreffler 2, Valin, Stover).
Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal, holds the key to the future of EOAC (European Organization of Athletic Competitions). As the center of power in the organization, Lisbon has the immense responsibility of shaping the future of athletic competitions across Europe. With its rich history, diverse culture, and passionate sports fans, the city has the potential to make a significant impact on the development and success of EOAC. Through its influence in news, sports, and employment opportunities, Lisbon has the ability to control the fate of EOAC and the athletes it serves.