Red Lion sharpshooter Josh Lauver missed Wednesday's home opener against Dallastown with a broken bone in his shooting hand. Spencer McCreary made sure nobody noticed.

The junior forward nailed three first-quarter 3-pointers and scored 17 first-half points to help the Red Lion boys' basketball team jump to a 13-point halftime lead and survive a rough fourth-quarter to beat the Wildcats, 59-48. The win was the Lions' fifth consecutive win to start the 2008-09 season.

"I think we defended pretty well the first three quarters, and Spencer really shot the ball well in the first half so we were able to build a pretty good lead," Red Lion coach Steve Schmehl said. "Obviously it wasn't completely safe, but it was good enough."

McCreary finished with 18 points, combining with senior forward Todd Maciejewski (22 points, 10 rebounds) to churn out most of Red Lion's offensive output and help the Lions take an 18-point lead going into the fourth quarter. Dallastown (3-3) stepped up its defense in the fourth quarter and closed to within 10 points with 3:30 left in the game on a pair of free throws from Ford Reinalda. But the Wildcats failed to get any closer.

"I thought we came out a little tentative on defense, not as aggressive as we needed to be," Dallastown coach Jay Rexroth said. "And obviously, Red Lion is a very good offensive team, so they put us in a lot of tough spots defensively. I thought McCreary -- obviously, 17 points in the first half -- we

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tried to do a good job on him, but we didn't get it done as a team."

The Wildcats stuck with a man-to-man defense throughout the first half against the Lions, but Red Lion played smart -- keeping turnovers to a minimum and moving the ball well around the perimeter to set up open shots. Three of the most pivotal of those shots came during the final two minutes of the first quarter.

With Red Lion leading by three points, McCreary knocked down a trey in the left corner to double the Lions' advantage. Dallastown answered with a bucket in the post from Bobby Doorn. Twenty second later, McCreary hit another three, this time from the right wing. After Michael Snell banked home a short-range shot for Dallastown to pull within five, Seth Bunner made it three 3-pointers in as many possessions for the Lions, draining one from the left corner.

Dallastown scored only seven points in the second quarter and a mere eight in the third as Red Lion pulled further ahead. Four McGlynn scored a game-high 24 points for the Wildcats, but no other Dallastown player cracked double-digits.

Lauver suffered the broken bone in Monday's Red Lion victory over Susquehannock. Schmehl anticipated the senior guard will be out for three weeks. Even without Lauver, Red Lion is still a prime target for YAIAA opponents. The Lions won the Section I regular season title last season with a young group and return four starters.

"Last year there was really no expectations," McCreary said. "Now this year, we have a big old X on our back. Everyone is out to get Red Lion. I think we're up to the challenge."

smclernon@ydr.com; 771-2045