FAIRMONT — The Lumberton boys basketball team’s personnel is a little different this season than the teams that made consecutive 4A East Regional final appearances the last two seasons.

But this year’s younger set of Pirates may be just as good defensively, if Monday’s game at Fairmont is any indication — Lumberton opened the season with a 62-23 rout of the Golden Tornadoes.

“One of the good things about being somewhere for a few years is principles don’t leave; they stay and you just get better at it,” Lumberton coach Bryant Edwards said. “When it comes to the defensive side of the basketball, our guys know what to expect; we’re going to sit down and we’re going to guard the basketball. That’s one thing we take a lot of proud in. I’m excited for their effort tonight.”

The Lumberton (1-0) defense not only held Fairmont (0-1) to single-digit scoring in every quarter, but contributed to many of the Pirates’ offensive baskets, through steals or fast breaks after long rebounds.

“It makes it easier, because it’s a defensive team, (we make) a lot of passes, and we’ve got easy outlets every time,” Lumberton guard Cobe Oxendine said. “That’s probably where most of our points come from.”

Oxendine led the Pirates with 18 points, with three 3-pointers on the night.

“He’s filling some big shoes, with Charlie Miller; his role coming into this year is a lot bigger for sure,” Edwards said. “He’s going to have a lot more shot attempts. We’re going to allow him pretty much to be able to stretch the floor and spread defenses out for us.”

Lumberton led 12-8 after the first quarter, a period that included a 10-2 Pirates run. In the second quarter, the Pirates outscored the Golden Tornadoes 18-4 to expand their lead to 30-12 at intermission.

“I saw some good things in the first quarter,” Fairmont coach Montrell McNair said. “After that, their experience and their defense took over.”

Fairmont was held without a field goal from the 5:14 mark of the second quarter, when a Jamari Watson jumper made it 16-10, until the 3:05 mark of the third quarter, when Tyrek Thompson hit a floater to make it 43-15. The Pirates stretched their lead to 51-18 by the end of the third.

“We put up 12 points each half; that’s not Fairmont basketball. That’s not consistency,” McNair said. “I take the blame for that because I’m the coach. I’ve got to find out a way to make them be more consistent starting now. That will be different — I guarantee they will be held accountable and will play a lot better than they played tonight.”

Lumberton held Fairmont to 14 shot attempts in the second half.

“That’s what we do,” Edwards said. “That’s one thing we hit hard on is offensive shot selection; we’re going to make people take tough shots, and we want to prevent them (from taking shots).”

J.B. Brockington scored 13 points for Lumberton; Angel Bowie had six points with 18 rebounds and five assists and Tre Lewis had seven points and 11 rebounds.

Savonte McKeithan led Fairmont with six points and Cameron Sweat scored five points with four rebounds.

Fairmont hosts Scotland Tuesday. Lumberton hosts Red Springs in its home opener on Nov. 30.

Second-half run lifts Lady Tornadoes

A pair of 3-pointers late in the third quarter gave the Fairmont girls basketball team a lead over Lumberton; an 11-minute stretch without a Pirates field goal helped the Golden Tornadoes create some separation in a 37-31 season-opening win.

The Golden Tornadoes’ win comes what coach Marcus Thompson called a “roller-coaster” over the last week: four players were involved in an automobile accident and Paris Bethea, one of the team’s leaders, being lost for the season due to a knee injury.

“We had to make adjustments quick,” Thompson said. “We keep saying, adversity introduces a man to himself — and I just asked them to fight. They showed me a lot.”

Fairmont (1-0) took a 24-23 lead at the end of the third quarter with 3-pointers by Haley George and Lakayla Chavis late in the period. As Lumberton (0-1) went without a field goal from the 4:26 mark of the third quarter to the 1:14 mark of the fourth, Fairmont stretched its lead to eight points twice late in the fourth.

Aydan Bullard and Carly Hammonds hit baskets for Lumberton to make it 35-31 with 38 seconds remaining; two Fairmont free throws and a Lumberton turnover ended the Pirates’ comeback chances.

“One thing that we’ve been trying to work on the whole season is getting a little bit tougher, getting ready for those pushes we know the other team’s going to make, and being able to answer back,” Lumberton coach Ivy Johnson said. “That starts with me and what we do, and we’ve got to build on that and build our toughness, build our mental toughness, and we’ve just got to want it.

Amyrikal Vaught had eight points and 12 rebounds for Fairmont; Lakayla Chavis had eight points with six rebounds and Niah Smith had seven points.

“Amyrikal played out of her mind on the boards,” Thompson said. “That’s what I love about the kids I’ve always had. You don’t teach nobody that there’s a star, but everybody kind of grinds it out. It’s not like we have any superstars, but they fight to win. That’s what we did tonight.”

Gabby Locklear scored nine points to lead Lumberton and Hammonds and Bre’Andrea Glover each had five.

Lumberton scored the last five points of a back-and-forth first quarter to take a 9-7 lead after the period. Fairmont tied the game at 9-9 with a Destiny Melvin jumper in the opening moments of the second quarter before Lumberton went on a 7-0 run, including two baskets by Locklear, to take a 16-9 lead with 1:33 left in the half.

Fairmont scored four points, three of which came from Secret Davis on a layup and a free throw, to make it 16-13 at halftime.

Lumberton extended its lead to 22-16 with 4:26 left in the third before its drought.