PEMBROKE — The Purnell Swett boys basketball team hadn’t even played a scrimmage before it took the floor for its season opener Tuesday night at home against Red Springs.

That fact sure wasn’t evident as the Rams earned a 67-50 win over the Red Devils.

“We didn’t have a scrimmage, so this is really our first look,” Purnell Swett coach Jeremy Sampson said. “I’m proud of the guys. I’m pleased with the defensive effort; the guys flew around on defense.”

Purnell Swett (1-0) led 12-11 after the first quarter before the Rams begin to slowly pull away. Red Springs (0-1) was held without a point for nearly seven minutes over the closing moments of the first quarter and most of the second; by the end of that stretch the Rams led 23-11. Purnell Swett led 30-19 at halftime.

“It’s all about how you prepare before a game, and our guys weren’t here tonight,” Red Springs coach Glenn Patterson Jr. said after his head-coaching debut. “It felt like our guys were ready to go on the Thanksgiving break tonight, and just whatever happens happens. But it’s early, it’s the first game of the season, and each day we want to try to get better and better.”

Purnell Swett’s lead stayed between eight and 15 points over the duration of the third quarter, and the Rams led 50-35 going to the fourth. Markus Lowry, who led the Rams with 12 points, had seven in the period.

The Rams scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to take their largest lead at 55-35 with 6:54 to go. The Red Devils never trailed by less than 15 points for the rest of the game.

In addition to Lowry, Josiah Brooks and Connor Harris scored in double figures for Purnell Swett with 10 points each and Ethan Brewington scored nine points.

“We almost had four guys in double figures,” Sampson said. “Markus Lowry played his butt off. I’m just really proud of the guys and their effort. We should be pretty deep — not big at all, we don’t have a Xavier Jones inside — but if we can buy in on the defensive end, we can surprise some people.”

Kohnner Oxendine led Red Springs with 10 points and Kaedon Porter had nine.

Purnell Swett hosts Hoke County on Monday and Red Springs plays next Tuesday at Lumberton; the teams meet again in Red Springs on Dec. 2.

Purnell Swett girls dominate Red Springs

The Purnell Swett girls basketball team wasted no time pulling away from Red Springs in a 71-22 season-opening win Tuesday.

The Rams were without seven players, who are in quarantine due to COVID-19 protocols, although most of the Rams’ most impactful players were in the lineup.

Purnell Swett (1-0) led 30-2 after the first quarter, 50-9 at halftime and 67-11 at the end of the third quarter.

“We’ve got half our team in, and for us to do what we did tonight is really impressive,” Purnell Swett coach Kalen Eddings said after his Rams debut. “(We gave up) 11 points in the first three quarters, that’s pretty good. We made some bad reads in some situations and stuff that they did offensively, but we’ll get better.”

Kylie Chavis scored 19 points for Purnell Swett, including 13 in the first quarter; Natalie Evington scored 19 points, Chloe Locklear had nine and Nyla Mitchell, Josey Locklear and Niyah Locklear had eight points each.

Jocelyn Maynor led Red Springs (0-1) with seven points and Brooke Wilkins scored six.

“That’s one of the best schools we play all year; they’re phenomenal,” Red Springs coach William Judd said. “(Chavis), she’s really good. Our ball handling, we’ve got so much work to do. But for this to be our first game, I’m not going to say I’m happy, because we got smoked, but I was pleased with some stuff. There were some bright spots that I saw that if we do this repeatedly, we’ll get a better outcome.”

Scotland wins close game over Fairmont

In a tight game throughout, the Scotland boys basketball team pulled out a 65-62 win over Fairmont Tuesday.

Scotland (1-0) led 10-6 after the first quarter, 26-23 at halftime and 46-44 after the third quarter.

Cameron Sweat nearly had a triple-double for Fairmont (0-2) with 10 points, eight rebounds and nine steals. Savonte McKeithan scored 15 points for the Golden Tornadoes, Tyrese Morris had 14 points and seven rebounds and Tyrek Thompson had 12 points.

Lamonte Cousar scored 25 points with 10 rebounds for Scotland and Patrick Reaves had 17 points and eight rebounds.

The teams meet again next Tuesday in Laurinburg, the next game for both teams.

Fairmont girls defeat Scots

The Fairmont girls basketball team held Scotland without a field goal for the first 11 minutes the game and outscored the Scots by 20 in the second half to earn a 47-24 win Tuesday.

Fairmont (2-0) held Scotland (0-1) without a field goal until the five-minute mark of the second quarter, outscoring the Scots 12-3 in the first quarter. Scotland had just two first-half field goals, but free throws kept them close as Fairmont led 17-14 at intermission.

The Golden Tornadoes outscored the Scots 30-10 in the second half, including an 18-6 third-quarter advantage that made it 35-20 going to the fourth.

Amyrikal Vaught had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Fairmont; Destiny Melvin scored eight points, Secret Davis had 11 rebounds and Haley George had five assists and five steals.

Kadence Sheppard led Scotland with eight points.

The Fairmont girls play Monday at Westover.