Lisbon ends Cedar Valley's first IGHSAU-sanctioned season

 LISBON -- Cedar Valley Christian's first postseason ended in the first round, to the hands of a superior team."They were bigger, stronger and deeper than us," Huskies Coach Craig Foote said after Lisbon sailed to a 63-37 victory in a Class 1A girls' basketball regional opener Thursday night at Lisbon High School.Zeva Light and Melissa Alger scored 19 points apiece as the Lions improved to 13-10, their first winning season since 2000.They'll host Tuesday's regional quarterfinal against Iowa Mennonite (5-18), a 53-38 upset winner over Lone Tree.Lisbon scored the first 10 points of the game, and like Tuesday's 63-28 warm-up win over the Huskies, this one was never in doubt."We got our first glimpse of them two nights ago, and they were better than we assumed they would be," Alger said. "We watched some film and made some adjustments."We feel like this is our year to go far."Cedar Valley's day will come, once they get -- in Foote's words -- bigger, stronger and deeper. The Huskies' first season as an IGHSAU-sanctioned team ended at 4-18."To win four games this year, it more than exceeded my expectations," Foote said. "I'm extremely proud."The Huskies have a player to build around in freshman Shelby Hembera, who led her team with 16 points and nine rebounds."For having six girls, I think it's really impressive that we won four games," Hembera said. "Every year, we're going to keep excelling and getting better."Alger did her damage inside, hitting 9 of 11 shots from the floor and snagging nine boards."My teammates have done a nice job getting that corner pass into me," she said. "Coach (Darin Hofmeister) said the first quarter was going to dictate the game."And it did. Within 2 1/2 minutes, Lisbon had a 10-0 lead and the Huskies had burned a pair of timeouts. It was 35-13 at halftime, 54-22 after three quarters.Light complemented Alger's inside game by hitting three shots from long range. She was 8 for 13 from the floor.The Lions shot 50 percent, making 28 of 56 shots, and owned a 38-26 rebounding advantage.Ellen Rodriguez posted 10 points and five assists for Cedar Valley.

LISBON 63, CEDAR VALLEY CHRISTIAN 37

At Lisbon

CEDAR VALLEY CHRISTIAN (37): Shelby Hembera 5-12 6-7 16, Carly Silver 0-2 0-0 0, Izzy Hoffman 3-4 1-2 7, Lindsey Cach 2-11 0-0 4, Ellen Rodriguez 3-12 4-8 10, Alyson Wood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-41 11-17 37.

LISBON (63): Zeva Light 8-13 0-0 19, Kady Light 3-7 1-2 7, Ali Givens 1-1 0-2 2, Brittney Dixon 1-4 0-1 2, Melissa Alger 9-11 1-2 19, Danielle Heiken 0-2 0-0 0, Addie Heiken 2-3 0-0 4, Brittany Frey 2-3 0-0 4, Alexa Moothart 0-4 2-2 2, Paige Felderman 0-2 0-0 0, Cassie Smith 2-6 0-0 4, Emma Hendricks 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Light 0-1 0-0 0, Kenyon Ellsworth 0-1 0-0 0, Cassidy Moore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-56 4-9 63.

Halftime: Lisbon 35, Cedar Valley 13.

3-point goals: Cedar Valley 0-5 (Silver 0-2, Hoffman 0-1, Cach 0-2), Lisbon 3-8 (Z.Light 3-7, Smith 0-1).

Team fouls: Cedar Valley 10, Lisbon 14.

Fouled out: none.

Rebounds: Cedar Valley 26 (Hermbera 9), Lisbon 38 (Alger 9).

Assists: Cedar Valley 8 (Rodriguez 5), Lisbon 14 (Dixon, D.Heiken 3).

Steals: Cedar Valley 4 (Cach 2), Lisbon 13 (Givens 3).

 Turnovers: Cedar Valley 21, Lisbon 17.See Thursday's 1A regional scores

here. [gallery columns="2"]