BOYS BASKETBALL Columbiana downs Lisbon for 4-0 mark

Austen Couchenour scored 19 points to lead the Clippers to a 58-49 win.
By JOHN BUTERA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBIANA -- With several players coming up big when needed, the Columbiana High boys basketball team opened Tri-County League play Tuesday with a 58-49 win over Lisbon.
"We are very excited to get this one," said Columbiana coach Jeff Hammond. "This was a big game with a lot of hype coming in. They're one of the top teams in the league, and if we want to make a run we have to beat the good teams.
"It got a little physical in there, and in the past we've lost those battles," he added. "Tonight, I was proud of the way the guys held them off."
Goal-less start
Lisbon went 0-for-13 in the opening quarter and committed five turnovers, falling behind 7-3.
Columbiana (4-0) didn't fare much better in the first quarter, but made 3-for-13 shots to grab control and lead from start to finish.
After grabbing three different leads of six points, Columbiana went up by eight when Austen Couchenour scored his eighth point at 4:03.
Lisbon went 9-for-16 at the foul line in the first half to stay close.
Thanks to four points from David Rice and three from Ryan Schmidt, Columbiana took a 22-9 lead at 3:05.
Lisbon, however, hung tough and managed to keep the Clippers without a basket the rest of the half. Lisbon used an 8-2 run to cut its halftime deficit to 24-17.
Clippers pad lead
After withstanding a Lisbon rally, Columbiana stretched its lead to 42-28 at the end of the third quarter.
The Clippers, however, hit just two of their first 12 fourth-quarter shots as Lisbon chipped away at its deficit.
Mike McDevitt's basket with 2:56 left cut Columbiana's lead to 49-44, but the Clippers shot well at the free throw line the rest of the way to put the game out of reach.
"We didn't get off to a good start and that just played on our minds the whole game," said Lisbon coach Joe Siefke. "I liked the fact that we never quit, but it was plain that we didn't execute our plan on offense.
"Columbiana is a good team, and we knew that coming in," he added. "We didn't play well here last year and to their credit they handled us again tonight."
Couchenour finished with a game-high 19 points, while David Cramer added 10.
For Lisbon, Lucian Smith scored 17 points, including 11-for-12 from the line, while McDevitt added 14 points and Jay Yorty 10.