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Lisle plays it smart

Lisle was measurably shorter than Argo, the Lions' boys basketball opponent on Tuesday night.

Lisle was arguably slower as well, if the number of fastbreaks meant anything.

But the Lions were sharper where it mattered, and that savvy enabled them to score a 46-41 victory over the Argonauts in a nonconference scrap in Summit between two winless teams.

Lisle (1-3) is winless no longer, and what's more, might have learned a great deal about how to hold a lead against a bigger, faster foe on the road.

"We denied them the middle for the most part," sophomore guard Mark McGrath said after his 16-point, 8-rebound performance. "We rebounded pretty well, but we can improve on that more. We did it by talking to each other and rotating, making sure everyone's in the right spot."

McGrath and his cohorts held a 10-point lead after Nick Massura's driving basket with 4:26 to play, but Argo (0-5), using a press that forced the Lions back until an Argo basket cut the lead to a point with 30 seconds left, when burly TyShaun Booker connected on his second 3-pointer.

"It's a matter of our guys looking past the two guys on them," Lisle coach Mark LaScala said.

That finally happened, and the Lions escaped the Argonauts' den.

"We had more patience," LaScala said, comparing the effort to the opening three games, which Lisle lost by an average of 18.7 points. "We were able to establish the tempo at the beginning."

Lisle continually looked for the better shot, passed well after a spate of early turnovers, and controlled the pace of the game. Massura's 6 points led Lisle at the half, and the Lions had a 21-16 lead.

Argo switched from a zone to a man-to-man defense to start the third quarter, but couldn't catch up until the fourth, when the press was applied. It nearly worked, but Lisle had an ace in the hole: The Lions hit 13 of 20 free throws - McGrath was 6 of 7 in the final 5:10 - while Argo treated free throws as a foreign concept, hitting only 3 of 13 and just 1 of 5 in the final quarter.

Massura added 11 points for Lisle, which hosts Peotone on Friday. Booker came off the bench to score 10 points for Argo.

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