Lisbon is closing in on its first girls basketball league title in 36 years

The mission is not complete, mind you. Work remains.

However, the Lisbon girls basketball team has put itself in a position to do something that hasn’t been done in 36 years.

The Lions moved into a tie for first place in the Tri-Rivers Conference East Division on Tuesday, staggering Bellevue Marquette with a third-quarter explosion in a 60-38 home victory.

“The kids were as happy as could be (postgame), and it has carried into (Wednesday),” said Coach Jack Leighty, who got doused from an army of water bottles in the Lions’ locker room.

“We talked before the game about the opportunity we had.”

Then, the Lions went out and seized it. Leading 25-23 at halftime, they outscored Marquette 22-4 in the third quarter and coasted home.

As a result, Lisbon (11-7 overall) and Marquette (11-4) are tied atop the division at 9-1, with two games apiece to go.

The Lions conclude divisional play with home games against Midland (Friday) and North Cedar (Tuesday). Win those, and they are assured no worse than a share of their first league title since 1989-90.

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Back then, Lisbon was a member of the Mideast Conference. And the game was six-on-six.

“We’ve been successful in other (girls) sports — softball, volleyball,” Leighty said. “We can be successful in basketball, too.”

Lisbon avenged an earlier loss to Marquette (51-49, Dec. 16, at Bellevue) in which the Lions let a late nine-point lead slip away.

“We earmarked this one,” Leighty said. “We wanted to stay undefeated until we got to this one.”

One of seven Lions to score Tuesday, Kamryn Kahl tallied 17 points. She is the only senior among the top five scorers this season, at 13.4 points per game.

“She’s kind of a slasher,” Leighty said. “She plays the 3, she can shoot the 3. She brings that intensity for us.”

Sophomore Kyla Kahl — Kamryn’s cousin — adds 7.9 points per game. Morgan Sauser, a junior who has overcome torn ACLs in both knees — is back and scoring at a 7.4-point rate.

Leighty is in his second year as head coach. Last year, he was the third coach in three years.

He also serves as the school district’s secondary principal.

“When you’re the principal, you don’t always get to deal with the kids much,” he said. “I use basketball as a hobby. It’s an amazing two hours every day in the gym, just hanging with the kids.”

Creating clarity in the league races

While Lisbon created more traffic at the top of the Tri-Rivers East race, a number of area teams gained separation from their closest challengers Tuesday:

* Springville became the first area team to clinch a league title outright, rallying past Maquoketa Valley in overtime, 57-54, at Delhi to secure the Tri-Rivers West title.

Rowan Jacobi posted 25 points and 15 rebounds — 18 and 13 after halftime. The Orioles are 15-1 overall, 7-0 in the division.

* The area’s lone unbeaten, Class 4A top-rated Clear Creek Amana (14-0 overall, 7-0 Wamac West) got 63 points from its senior trio of Lena Evans, Stratton and Averie Lower in a 70-67 victory over Williamsburg.

CCA rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit and pushed its divisional lead to two games over the Raiders.

* Tipton completed a season sweep of Iowa City Regina, 50-44, on the road and greatly enhanced its chances of a first league championship since 2009 — and its first outright title since 2000.

Paityn Daedlow took four shots — all from 3-point range — and made them all in an 18-point performance, and the Tigers (15-1 overall, 9-0 River Valley South) won their 12th consecutive game. They lead both Regina and Mid-Prairie by two games in the loss column.

* MFL MarMac (12-5 overall, 10-3 Upper Iowa Conference) extended its lead in the Large School Division to 1 1/2 games with a 47-35 win over fellow contender South Winneshiek at Monona.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com