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Lisbon, Sebring play a Classic

Lisbon’s Seth Stokes looks to pass over Sebring’s Jason Dickson on Saturday. (Photos by Wayne Maris)

LISBON — Something about Sebring seems to bring out Justin Sweeney’s best late in the game.

The Lisbon sophomore stunned the Trojans with a long game-tying three with one second left in regulation to propel the Blue Devils to a 72-67 overtime win in the inaugural Lisbon Tip-Off Classic championship game Saturday at Nace Gymnasium.

It was the second time in three seasons Sweeney has victimized Sebring with a buzzer-beating three, as he did the exact same thing in eighth grade.

“It’s crazy,” Sweeney said. “A couple of years ago the same thing happened. It must be a Sebring curse or something. I don’t know.”

Lisbon improves to 2-0 overall. Sebring drops to 1-1.

With the Blue Devils trailing 60-57 and 14 seconds remaining on the clock, Lisbon coach Chris Huckshold called timeout to draw up a play for Sweeney. However, the Sebring defense was ready, forcing Sweeney to catch the ball about 35 feet from the basket with the clock winding down. With no other choice, he flung a prayer towards the hoop. The ball swished through the net with one second left on the clock.

“I was supposed to go to the middle and shoot a three, but they trapped so I had to go to the right. Colin (Sweeney) got me a pass, I chucked it up and it went in,” Sweeney said.

“If that’s his range, that’s where I’ll put him from now on,” Lisbon coach Chris Huckshold joked.

That was only the beginning. Sebring pulled itself together and led 63-61 with under two minutes remaining in overtime. Sweeney then sliced to the hoop for a tough two to tie the game, in addition to being fouled.

He missed the foul shot, but Branson Brownfield grabbed a critical offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to Sweeney who nailed the go-ahead three to put Lisbon up 66-63 with 1:14 left. One possession later, Sweeney came up with a steal and streaked to the hoop for a layup to make it 68-63. The Blue Devils closed the game out at the foul line from there.

“I’ve watched Justin since he was a little guy and he’s always been one of the kids who wants to step up and take the big shot,” Huckshold said.

By the time Sweeney was finished leaving his imprint on the game, his totals were 32 points, five rebounds, five assists and seven steals.

“Kudos to Justin for being able to come through like he did,” Sebring coach Josh Scott said. “The last play of regulation was great defense by us, but better offense by him. He’s going to be one of the better ones to come through here. He’s hard to guard and he’s a kid that can make big shots in big moments.”

Sweeney’s clutch shooting obscured a stellar effort by Sebring’s Robbie Rouse down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

The senior scored eight straight points in the final 2:07 of regulation to turn a 55-52 Lisbon lead into a 60-57 Sebring advantage.

Rouse finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Jason Dickson added 18 points and four steals. Drew Kleinman added a clutch three in overtime to give Sebring a 63-60 lead.

“Robbie was huge down the stretch for us,” Scott said. “He’s tenacious and he’s a winner. He hates to lose and tried to do everything he could to get us the win.”

Lisbon got off to a flying start and led 16-4 late in the first quarter before the Trojans came clawing back with a 12-0 run. Sebring kept the momentum going in the second quarter and took a 36-28 lead into the locker room. The Blue Devils tightened up their defense in the third quarter and drew within four before coming back to take the lead early in the fourth.

Colin Sweeney finished with 14 points and five assists for Lisbon. Seth Stokes had seven rebounds, while Brownfield finished with six rebounds and four blocks.

“Every opportunity to get on the floor and play a game with five new starters early in the season is good,” Huckshold said. “We have some fixable adjustments to make, but it’s a good win for this team early in the season. Tonight was a great learning experience for us and a great opportunity for the kids to grow.”

Game notes

¯ Valley Christian beat Heartland Christian 70-23 in the consolation game.

¯ The all-tournament team consisted of Justin Sweeney and Colin Sweeney from Lisbon, Robbie Rouse from Sebring, Jamynk Jackson from Valley Christian and Ben Burgess from Heartland.

¯ Sebring jayvee team lost to Valley Christian’s jayvee team 56-32 earlier in the afternoon. Wes Latham had nine points for Sebring. Lisbon’s jayvee team also beat Heartland’s jayvee team.

¯ Lisbon is at South Range Tuesday, while Sebring visits Columbiana.

¯ The victory was Huckshold’s 100th career win.

SEBRING: 12-24-8-16-7–67

LISBON:  16-12–12-20-12–72

SEBRING SCORING: Drew Kleinman 1-0-3, Jason Dickson 3-11-18, Robbie Rouse 9-4-22, Gabe Lanzer 3-1-7, Jared Hunter 4-0-8, Joey Clark 1-2-4, Collin Baia 0-3-3, Brandon Dare 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 22, 21-31: 67.

LISBON SCORING: Justin Sweeney 13-4-32, Seth Stokes 1-3-5, Colin Sweeney 5-3-14, Bailey McCullough 3-0-6, Branson Brownfield1-2-4, Dougie Minor 2-0-5, Jacob Mundy 0-0-0, Noah Barnes 1-0-2, Logan Bell 0-2-2, Nick Mundy 0-2-2. TEAM TOTALS: 26, 16-29: 72.

Three-point goals: Sebring 2 (Dickson, Kleinman), Lisbon 4 (Justin Sweeney 2, Colin Sweeney 1, Dougie Minor 1).

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