FAIRMONT — The Red Springs boys basketball team defeated Fairmont 65-38 in a Southeastern Athletic Conference matchup Friday night at Fairmont High School.

Red Springs (12-6, 4-2 Southeastern) was led by Kaedon Porter with 19 points and four rebounds, Jaylen Sturdivant with 18 points and nine rebounds and Kohnner Oxendine with eight points and four rebounds.

Top scorers for Fairmont (5-12, 2-4 Southeastern) included Gabriel Washington with 10 points, Tyrek Thompson with eight points and Landon Cummings with five points.

Fairmont opened the first quarter with a defensive start. Gabriel Washington hit a 3-pointer to get the crowd and his teammates’ momentum going. That made the Red Devils buckle down and get aggressive with Red Springs’ Kohnner Oxendine busting out with a pretty corner-pocket 3 to tie the game at 13-13 at the end of the first quarter.

The Red Devils dominated the floor in the second quarter, giving the Red Devils the momentum that they needed. Red Springs went on a 10-3 run with two minutes left in the quarter, and took a 35-23 lead at halftime.

Fairmont came out with players in foul trouble early in the third quarter. Fairmont was picking up the pace trying to keep up with the Red Devils, going basket for basket, but with multiple players in foul trouble and Fairmont fell short in the third and trailed 48-31 at the end of the period.

The fourth quarter didn’t look too pretty for the Tornadoes with Thompson fouling out. Fairmont tried its best to play defense and rough up on the Red Devils, but it just wasn’t enough. Red Springs was unstoppable, increasing its lead to 27 points. The Red Devils put the pedal to the metal listening to their head coach in the huddle, by passing the ball and looking for their teammates in the paint. The Red Devils took the game into the palm of their hands and defeated Fairmont at the Golden Tornadoes’ home turf.

Lady Tornadoes demolish Red Devils

The Fairmont girls basketball team defeated Red Springs 55-16 on Friday at Fairmont.

Taniya Simms led Fairmont (15-3, 5-1 Southeastern) with 17 points and 24 rebounds. Niah Smith had 15 points and three assists, Amyrikal Vaught scored nine points, Paris Bethea had four assists with eight steals and Sydney Jacobs grabbed 11 rebounds with four assists.

Red Springs’ (9-9, 3-3 Southeastern) top players were Sydney Bell with three points, Genesis McCadney with four points and Monica Washington with three points.

The Red Devils, who were coming off Tuesday’s upset win over East Bladen, started off with the ball in the beginning of the first quarter but with a quick turnover the Lady Tornadoes dominated the floor. Simms opened up with the first two points in the quarter. Fairmont went on a 15-3 run in just three minutes to take the lead, and led 17-5 to end the first quarter.

The run came as the Tornadoes’ defensive pressure forced the Red Devils into several turnovers, leading to some Lady Tornadoes baskets, while at the same time the Tornadoes were successful at making shots from the floor. Fairmont finished the half on a 20-5 run to pull out to a 40-8 halftime lead.

The Red Devils opened up the third quarter with Washington scoring the first points with 2:39 left in the third. With a running clock, the Red Devils tried their best to get back in the game. The Red Devils didn’t give up and kept pushing strong to the very end but still fell behind to the Lady Tornadoes, ending the game with a 39-point final margin.