Twice in the last six days, Lone Tree had been in one-possession games late in the fourth quarter.

So close, but unable to finish.  

There would be no need for the Lions to play catch-up on Tuesday in Columbus. Lone Tree held a double-digit lead for the entire second half in a 56-43 win, the Lions’ first of the season.

“Oh my god, it feels great,” Aidan Forbes said. “Especially being our senior year and with COVID kind of just changing our lives – for the worse, to be honest. It feels great to get a win.”

It’s been a tough season for the Lions, who were working to replace all five starters from the previous season when practice was suspended for two weeks as Lone Tree went to online learning earlier this year.

“It's hard to believe right now that we're in early February talking about the end of the season,” coach Tom Squiers said. “It just seems like right now we're starting to do some of the little things that probably would have been worked out earlier in the year.”

Lone Tree had a 24-21 lead with a minute left in the first half. Four minutes into the second half, that margin had grown to 18.

“Our press got to them,” Squiers said. “I thought we pressured the ball a lot better. And that's one the things we've been working on. It's kind of the way I thought we'd play all year.”

Cade Patterson had five of the Lions’ 16 steals, and Alex Viner stole the ball four times.

The Lions (1-14) and Wildcats (1-15) were both hungry for a win on Tuesday. There were eight lead changes in the first quarter before Viner gave the Lions the lead for good with the first points of the first quarter.

The Wildcats’ 6-foot-2 senior Owen Watson was a defensive presence on Tuesday, blocking five shots and altering others. But the Lions kept attacking the basket. Tyler Bell scored eight of Lone Tree’s first 20 points. His 3-point play gave the Lions a 20-15 lead in the second quarter.

“We basically played as a team,” Bell said. “We passed the ball around, got the zone broken and scored.”

Adam Knock hit a 3-pointer and Cade Shield completed a 3-point play during Lone Tree’s 8-0 run over the final minute of the first half.

Bell scored seven straight points over a 48-second span in the third quarter to put Lone Tree up 41-23. He led the Lions with 17 points and 10 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season.

“I thought we got better ball movement out of the zone,” Squiers said. ”We did a really good job of getting the ball to Tyler Bell, which we hadn't done the last couple nights. That was key, something we've been stressing.”

The Lions had a scoring drought of over four minutes in the third quarter, but Knock ended a 5-0 run by driving to basket, spinning and laying the ball of the glass with his left hand. Knock also got to the rim for back-to-back baskets in the second quarter.

“That's something we've been missing,” Knock said. “We're doing it in practice, and it works. We just had to do it and execute in a game for once.”

Knock came off the bench to score 14 points on 5-6 shooting. Knock and Drew Gualley have both been in the starting lineup at times this year, but Patterson got the start on Tuesday.   

“He hasn't hung his head about not starting,” Squiers said. “I thought he came off the bench tonight and played probably his best game of the season. He hit threes, he hit free throws, and did a great job of taking the ball in the basket. He's one that's been working on some things in practice and I really thought that that carried over to tonight.”

Patterson was often the beneficiary of Lone Tree’s transition offense, and he finished with eight points and three assists. Shield had seven points, three assists and three steals. Forbes was 2-4 from the 3-point line and grabbed five rebounds.

Watson led the Wildcats with 24 points on 11-12 shooting, but the rest of the team shot 8-31 and Lone Tree dominated the boards 33-19.

Columbus will make a trip to Lone Tree for the rematch on Friday.