Jacob Hickey made 10 of 16 three-point attempts in Winthrop’s 80-37 win over Lisbon on Monday night. Winthrop coach Todd MacArthur is trying to find out if it’s a new school record, asking former coaches and long-time observers of the storied program whether anyone has ever matched it.

Hickey finished with 41 points in essentially three quarters, as MacArthur pulled his starters early with the blowout in progress.

Lisbon employed a 1-3-1 zone in hopes of getting a hand in Hickey’s face, but a couple of open looks early got the junior guard going. Once he was in rhythm, he was nearly impossible to stop, regardless of what the Greyhounds did to try to disrupt him.

“After a while, every shot he put up, I think everyone in the gym thought it was going in,” MacArthur said.

Hickey provided an offensive spark off the bench as a freshman and sophomore. But with the graduation of four starters from last year’s 16-4 team, he and MacArthur prepared for Hickey becoming the Ramblers’ main offensive weapon by continuing to work on his release, which the coach said “has gotten so much faster in the last three years.”

Part of quickening the release is a mental process. MacArthur praised Hickey for his “shooter’s mentality.”

“Knowing he is our scorer, he doesn’t second-guess or stop,” MacArthur said.

But Hickey’s scoring isn’t coming at the expense of the Ramblers’ other options, as their 5-0 record and 69.6 points per game going into Thursday night’s game with St. Dominic attest.

MacArthur didn’t just like how Hickey attacked Lisbon’s zone. Anthony Owens had 16 points, mostly in the paint, to complement the outside bombardment. The Ramblers were patient and made good, timely decisions.

“Even though Hickey had 10 threes, the amount of ball movement from our offense to get that zone to change shape was the most impressive thing,” MacArthur said.

“To be very honest with you, I thought offensively and defensively it was probably one of our best nights, collectively, in two years,” he added.

Winthrop hopes to keep up the all-around goodness when they meet fellow unbeaten Dirigo as part of the Capital City Hoop Classic on Dec. 30 at the Augusta Civic Center.

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The Capital City Hoop Classic headlines the holiday break basketball schedule with nine games on Dec. 30 at the Augusta Civic Center. East/West Conference rivals Rangeley and Forest Hills kick off the day with a morning doubleheader starting with the boys game at 8 a.m. Hampden and Boothbay girls follow at 11 a.m.

The Cony girls lead off the afternoon session against Waterville, followed by a pair of boys games between Lawrence and Erskine and Messalonskee at Waterville. The Cony boys host Oxford Hills at 6:30 p.m. in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference boys regular season matchup. The nightcap, scheduled for 8 p.m., is an exhibition rematch of last year’s Class A state championship game between Hampden and Portland.

All games except the Hampden/Boothbay, Cony/Waterville and Hampden/Portland matchups will count in the Heal points.

Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors and good for the entire day.

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Lawrence’s Mason Cooper bulked up during the offseason, and now the 6-foot-3 junior is flexing his muscles while packing a scoring punch for the Bulldogs.

Cooper is averaging 26 points per game through four games for the 2-2 Bulldogs. He’s been very consistent, with his high of 30 points coming in a 62-55 overtime win over Nokomis and his low of 23 coming in a 70-53 loss to Brewer.

“He’s put in a ton of time in the weight room. He’s a weight room junkie,” Lawrence coach Jason Pellerin said. “He added about 15 or 20 pounds of muscle. He just really dedicated himself to getting stronger this year.”

Pellerin said Cooper’s strength and determination have helped him pick up plenty of second-chance points.

“His offensive rebounding is vastly improved due to his ability to be physical,” he said.

Aside from Cooper’s work, Pellerin said team chemistry and focus are a couple of the Bulldogs’ other strengths. The players are focused on getting better each day at practice and playing as a team at both ends at game time.

“I’m enjoying how we’re sharing the ball and looking for the open guy. The guys seem to enjoy making that extra pass,” he said. “On the defensive end, our communication has become so much better.”

Lawrence ends 2015 with a key three-game stretch starting Friday night at home against Oceanside. The Bulldogs visit defending state champion Hampden Academy next Tuesday before meeting Erskine Academy at the Augusta Civic Center as part of the Capital City Hoop Classic on Dec. 30.

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Valley knocked Richmond from the unbeaten ranks and preserved its own perfect record with a dominant fourth quarter in Wednesday night’s 62-51 win. Despite having two starters in foul trouble, the Cavaliers exploded for 25 points while shutting down Richmond’s Zach Small, who had scored 13 points in the previous quarter to give the Bobcats a 41-37 lead.

Cavaliers coach Luke Hartwell said the strong finish against a tough opponent was a sign of his team’s maturity.

“Their composure and mental toughness in the fourth quarter was what a veteran team should have,” he said. “We talked all last year about how we were mostly juniors and sophomores. Now, they’re the old guys, I call them. ‘You guys are the old guys so you should be used to these types of situations.'”

The “old guys” include three seniors — Cody Laweryson, Luke Malloy and Collin Miller. Laweryson had an outstanding all-around game with 23 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots. Miller scored all 13 of his points in the second half and also had 12 rebounds. Malloy was one of the starters battling foul trouble but did a good job defensively on Richmond’s explosive guards.

The Cavaliers (5-0) are averaging 67 points per game, but that number would be bigger if they could start stronger. Against Richmond, they scored just eight points in the first quarter and 18 in the first half.

“We come out slow in games and we have a hard time focusing and finishing in the paint,” Hartwell said.

Valley will work on getting out of the blocks faster with home games against Seacoast Christian on Friday and Greenville next Tuesday. Then the Cavaliers will have a 10-day break to get ready for defending Class D champion Forest Hills on Jan. 2 in Jackman.

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Around the state: Washburn won an early-season showdown with Southern Aroostook, 69-66, on a Jarrett Olson heave from near midcourt that beat the buzzer. Washburn (3-0), Valley (5-0) and Islesboro (3-0) are the only unbeaten teams in Class D… The three Portland teams in Class AA — Cheverus, Deering and Portland — are a combined 11-0. The only team outside of the city in Class AA South with a record above .500 is Oxford Hills (3-1)… Hampden Academy star Nick Gilpin, one of the favorites for 2016 Mr. Maine Basketball, announced he will attend Bates College next fall.

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33