LUMBERTON — The Lumberton boys basketball team’s run to a co-state championship last season was built on defense.

Taking the floor Tuesday 318 days after their last game, the Pirates looked very different through first-half defensive struggles.

But they provided in the second half a reminder why a championship banner now hangs over one baseline in their gymnasium.

The Pirates held visiting Richmond to nine points over the final 16 minutes, taking and extending a lead on the strength of that defense to win 67-52. The game, between two Sandhills Athletic Conference members, was considered nonconference.

“We didn’t guard the bounce well in the first half, they beat us off the bounce, they outrebounded us, they got easy shots,” Lumberton coach Bryant Edwards said. “We made the adjustments we needed to make, got the switches we needed to make, and we just locked in and guarded the bounce. We outrebounded them (24-6) in the second half, so that’s a big difference.”

Richmond (1-1) scored 24 points in the first quarter and 43 in the first half to take a 43-37 lead at intermission. Lumberton (1-0) held the Raiders to three points in the third quarter and six in the fourth, with just one field goal in each period.

“When coach went into halftime, he got on us,” senior forward Matt Locklear said. “He said you can’t win games with them scoring 43 and having 10 turnovers, you can’t be doing that.”

The Pirates went on a 19-3 run over the entire third quarter, led by three baskets each from Locklear and Cobe Oxendine.

Locklear scored six more points in the fourth as part of his team-high 17 points.

“Coach told me to go crash the boards, because they weren’t boxing out,” Locklear said. “They were just looking to pitch it and go. So just doing the right things and being there, being in the right spot at the right time. And you could tell they didn’t want to run, so if you could run the floor you could get open.”

“He settled in, he started running the floor more, started getting his hands on some balls, started catching his stride,” Edwards said. “The second half, he really locked in and helped us calm the game down. He caught some tough passes and finishes, but that’s what he does.”

Oxendine hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter and four in the game, scoring 12 points. This comes as the sophomore who saw limited minutes last season steps into a larger role.

“It was important for me, because I had to step up,” Oxendine said. “We got in foul trouble early, so I had to step up, and become a leader on the court while I was on it.”

Charlie Miller scored 13 points with eight rebounds for the Pirates and Jadarion Chatman sored eight points with seven assists and nine rebounds. Angel Bowie had a double-double with 12 points, all in the first half, and 14 rebounds.

Paul McNeil scored 24 points for Richmond, but was held to two points after halftime as the Lumberton defense shined. Nygie Stroman and Patrick McLaughlin each scored 11.

Lumberton took a 17-12 lead in the first quarter after a 9-0 run before Richmond tied the score at 24-24 by the end of the period.

Richmond opened the second quarter with a 10-3 run to take a 34-27 lead, but Lumberton responded with an identical 10-3 run to tie the game at 37-37 with 1:29 left in the half. Richmond scored the last six points of the half for its 43-37 halftime lead.

As Lumberton made its third quarter run, it took a 44-43 lead on a Oxendine 3-pointer, then after a Richmond free throw took the lead for good at 47-44 after another Oxendine triple with 5:36 to go in the third. Lumberton continued to stretch its lead through the rest of the quarter, leading 56-46 going to the fourth.

Richmond got within eight points at 57-50 after a McLaughlin basket and a DeShon Watson free throw early in the fourth, but the Raiders did not have another field goal the rest of the way. Lumberton’s lead stayed around nine to 11 points for most of the fourth before a couple of late baskets extended it to the final margin of 15.

The Pirates were playing their first game of the season after a two-week quarantine due to COVID-19 cases on the team.

“Our guys have been so eager,” Edwards said. “This two-week quarantine, after we’ve been in quarantine for months on months, and just holding them back even more — and me as their coach, I’m trying my best to play as many games and fill the schedule up, just for these guys. They need to play basketball; I don’t care who it is.”

Lumberton hosts Fairmont Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Momentum shifts away from Lady Pirates

For a few moments early in the fourth quarter Tuesday, the Lumberton girls basketball team had regained the momentum from Richmond, had cut a 10-point deficit to five and appeared primed for a fourth-quarter comeback.

Moments later, the momentum was gone and the lead was double digits again, a hole from which the Lady Pirates never recovered in a 51-45 loss.

“That’s one of those things that when you’re playing so many young people that don’t have the varsity experience — that was a great game for us to learn in,” Lumberton coach Ivy Johnson said. “We lost, we took one on the chin, but we learned. But as far as momentum comes, that’s what happens when you have a very young team that you’re going with.”

Trailing 39-29 after the third quarter, Lumberton got a basket from Carly Hammonds and a 3-pointer from August Smith to cut the lead to 39-34 with 6:28 to play.

But two free throws by Richmond’s Jamiya Ratliff and two 3-pointers by Jayla McDougald gave Richmond a 47-36 lead with 4:03 to go.

“That’s just knowing that scouting report,” Johnson said. “We knew that (McDougald) was a good shooter and she’d shoot the ball; she had five (3-pointers) on us. That hurt, and that’s just part of that learning experience, knowing that we’ve got to get to the shooters, we have to know when they’re in our area. But I think we’ll get there; I’m very optimistic about what we can do.”

Lumberton got to within six after a Smith triple and a Keke Lawrence basket but baskets by Keyoni Nichols and McDougald made the Raiders’ lead 10 again at 51-41. Two baskets over the last 1:05 got the Pirates to the six-point final margin.

McDougald led all scorers with 17 points, and Ratliff scored 13 for the Raiders.

Smith scored 12 points and Hammonds added 10 for Lumberton.

Lumberton led 16-11 after the first quarter before Richmond outscored the Pirates 11-4 in the second for a 22-20 halftime lead. The Raiders gradually extended their lead through the third quarter for their 10-point advantage entering the fourth.

Fairmont girls top West Bladen

The Fairmont girls basketball team earned a 39-20 home win over West Bladen in their Three Rivers Conference opener Tuesday.

The Golden Tornadoes led throughout, holding West Bladen (2-1, 0-1 TRC) to three first-quarter points and two in the second quarter.

Fairmont (3-1, 1-0 TRC) led 12-3 after the first quarter, 16-5 at halftime and 24-14 at the end of the third.

Paris Bethea scored 10 points with eight steals for Fairmont. Lakayla Chavis had eight points and Secret Davis had six points with eight rebounds.

Rylee Chadwick led West Bladen with nine points.