FAIRMONT — The first meeting between the Lumberton and Fairmont boys basketball teams was won a double-digit victory for Fairmont in a game with ebbs and flows.

In the second meeting 14 days later, the Golden Tornadoes controlled nearly the entire game as Fairmont earned a 57-45 home win over the Pirates Friday.

“When we needed to make stops, we made the stops we needed,” Fairmont coach Montrell McNair said. “We made some timely buckets. We were a little bit more under control tonight; at Lumberton we were all over the place but tonight we kind of settled down a little bit more.”

Naishon Davis scored 14 points to lead Fairmont (3-1) and Tyrek Thompson scored 12 points, with both adding five rebounds. Isaac McKellar had 11 points, while Josiah Billings grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

“We were supposed to do that when we got to Lumberton, so ever since last week, Coach (McNair) has been telling us we’ve got to beat them boys and be on the wing harder, so that’s what we did,” McKellar said.

Fairmont began the scoring with 3s by Gabriel Washington and Naishon Davis for a 6-0 lead. Isaac McKellar scored six points over the rest of the period to give the Golden Tornadoes a 14-7 lead at the end of the quarter, holding the Pirates (0-2) to two field goals.

“(McKellar) can do that, he can score six or eight points and then you won’t hear from him for a while,” McNair said. “He can go on runs by himself, and we lean on him to do that.”

After a triple by Lumberton’s Nick Lawson opened up the second-quarter scoring and cut the Fairmont lead to 14-10, the Golden Tornadoes stretched the lead back to 19-10 after three free throws and a Josiah Billings putback with 3:47 left in the half. The Pirates cut the lead back to 19-14 before a 3 by Fairmont’s Caleb Daniels and a luyup by Lumberton’s Amare Jones made it a 22-16 game at halftime.

Fairmont started the second half on a 15-3 run, with five more points by McKellar as five additional Golden Tornadoes also scored in the span, to take a 37-19 lead with 2:41 left in the third. The teams more or less traded scores for the rest of the period, and Fairmont led 43-27 when the quarter expired.

“The first three minutes of the first quarter and the first three minutes of the third quarter, they bullied us, hit us in the mouth early,” Lumberton coach Bryant Edwards said. “And whenever we needed to get stops and start things off right, we just couldn’t do it.”

Lumberton did threaten a fourth-quarter comeback, getting as close as seven points, as Fairmont struggled at the free-throw line. The Pirates closed to a 46-36 deficit after an Amare Jones steal and layup with 3:18 to go, but consecutive baskets by Fairmont’s Alex Stephens gave the Golden Tornadoes a 52-39 lead.

The Pirates, though, scored the next six points with a Brady Chavis triple and three free throws to make it 52-45 with 48 seconds left. Fairmont hit three free throws and scored on a Stephens layup in the game’s final moments to push the lead to the final 12-point margin.

Fairmont was 4-for-13 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, with a 1-for-9 mark before the final minute.

“I promise you we work on the free throws. I’ve had loud music playing. It’s just about them focusing when they get up to the line to make their free throws,” McNair said. “That allowed (Lumberton) to get back in the game and gave them confidence. … (Lumberton) fought like crazy and we had to fight to win.”

Jaiden Shephard scored 16 points with seven rebounds for the Pirates, but had little help as the rest of the team struggled throughout the game.

“It’s tough when you’ve got a couple dudes who are giving everything they’ve got, but you also have a bunch of seniors who are scared of the moment — that’s what we’re working with,” Edwards said. “We need our seniors to start being seniors, and when that happens we may can turn a little corner, but until then we’re going to struggle.”

Fairmont won its second straight game against the Pirates after losing the previous 12 in the head-to-head series, dating back to 2017; that 2017-18 season is also the last time the Golden Tornadoes beat Lumberton twice in a season.

“The last three years — I have some seniors that were sophomores playing varsity that never beat Lumberton until this year, so it’s their third year and they got over the hump,” McNair said. “It’s big for them and it’s big for our program.”

While the Golden Tornadoes celebrate the win and prepare for a Tuesday trip to Seventy-First, Lumberton looks to regroup after its first 0-2 start since the 2014-15 season.

“I’m not saying I saw us being 0-2, but I know we’ve got a lot of young dudes and I’ve sold out to it,” Edwards said. “I want this freshman/sophomore group to be playing together … because at the end of the day, in two years we’re going to be really good again. I believe it, I see it, it’s going to happen — we’ll take some lumps, but these guys will learn from it.”

Lady Tornadoes dominate Pirates

Playing its first repeat opponent of the season, the Fairmont girls basketball team put together its best offensive performance of the season Friday, scoring consistently throughout the game en route to a 61-21 win over Lumberton.

The Golden Tornadoes’ 21st straight home victory came after a 49-39 loss Wednesday at Richmond.

“They played a lot better,” Fairmont coach Marcus Thompson said. “I think Wednesday night was a big eye-opener for us. … They hated that they lost, but they played so hard, they were ready to get a win — and I like that, I don’t want them to get used to losing. I think they were hungry for a win.”

Fairmont (4-1) scored 16 points or more in each of the first three quarters, while holding Lumberton (0-2) to eight or less in each period.

The Golden Tornadoes led 8-5 with two minutes left in the first quarter before a 17-0 run that stretched into the middle of the second quarter, giving Fairmont a 16-5 lead after the first period and a 25-5 advantage by the end of the run. The Golden Tornadoes extended their lead to 35-11 by the end of the first half.

Fairmont started the second half with a 9-2 run and held a 17-8 third-quarter advantage to take a 52-19 lead to the fourth.

Fairmont forwards Taniya Simms and Myasia Simms played the game after the death of their grandfather Friday morning; Thompson said the circumstances brought the team together entering the contest.

“They needed something to play for,” Thompson said. “There’s just so many different emotions. I’m happy for the team, because when you have something like that happen … and the team still plays as hard as they did, that just shows you that the team is strong.”

Taniya Simms scored 17 points with 14 rebounds and four steals and Myasia Simms had five points. Niah Smith scored 15 points with five rebounds, five assists and two steals and Miah Smith had 11 points, six assists and five steals for the Golden Tornadoes.

Yasmin Quick scored seven points for Lumberton and Florence Ferguson had five.