LUMBERTON — The cheers get louder, the momentum grows stronger and — most importantly — the points add up faster when the 3-point shot goes through the nylon.

Those shots found the net early and often for the Lumberton boys basketball team Friday against United-8 Conference visitors Cape Fear.

The Pirates hit 14 triples, using a hot shooting night from the outset to post a dominant 77-48 victory over the Colts.

“Our young guys were hitting 3s, and our seniors were carrying the team, helping to make 3s and set the tone,” said senior guard Jaiden Shephard, who hit two 3s as part of a game-high 17-point performance. “After we set the tone, we just kept it rolling.”

Lumberton (9-7, 4-2 United-8) was 14-for-25 from deep, with seven Pirates making at least one trey during the game.

Much of the perimeter success came as sophomore guard Amare Jones found the open man; he finished with 10 assists to go with 11 rebounds and five points.

“Whenever Amare creates shots like he did tonight, it makes it easy,” Lumberton coach Bryant Edwards said. “Not only did we have shots to shoot, but they were easy shots. That makes a big difference. With the team we’ve got, whenever you’re able to take that many easy, open shots, that’s a testament to who’s getting you the ball. Amare has been taking care of the ball lately, he’s figuring out how to make the team operate, and these next three years with him is going to be pretty fun to watch.”

Lumberton (9-7, 4-2 United-8) started the night with a trio of treys through the first 1:25, with Dimetrious Jones, Nate Lawson and Jaiden Shephard each connecting from distance. An Israel Perkins putback gave the Pirates an 11-0 lead with 5:44 left in the first quarter.

“Especially with a young team that we’ve got, to get them out and get them going early, that’s big for them,” Edwards said. “And these guys know — they’re hungry, these young dudes.”

Nick Lawson, Amare Jones and Aiden Locklear also hit 3s over the rest of the first quarter, giving Lumberton a 28-12 advantage following the period.

Cape Fear (6-9, 3-4 United-8) cut the Pirates’ lead to 31-25 after a 13-3 run to start the second quarter. But the Pirates rebuilt their lead the same way they’d built it to start the game: from the 3-point line. Dimetrious Jones hit a 3 with 2:18 left in the half — the Pirates’ first field goal of the quarter — before Locklear hit two more over the final 1:25 to give Lumberton a 40-29 halftime advantage.

“When we went on our runs we were getting defensive stops, and when we get defensive stops and our guards can get the rebound and get the ball out on the floor, we are tough to beat,” Edwards said. “It’s just taken this young team a little while to figure out how to get there.”

“We got into halftime and everybody had good energy,” said Locklear, the senior guard who finished with nine points. “Getting past halftime, third quarter, that just led to even more buckets.”

Cape Fear got within six points again in the third quarter after 3s of their own from Damien Gary and Connor Moore made it a 43-37 game at the 3:55 mark. But 3s by both Lawson twins, Nate and Nick, sparked a 15-2 Pirates run to finish the quarter, with five points by Shephard in the last 29 seconds giving the Pirates a 58-39 lead with a quarter to play.

“Before the game, (Edwards) told me just attack because they have nobody to stop us,” Shephard said. “So that’s what I did; I kept my head down, shoulders to the basket and finished it.”

Lumberton maintained no less than a 19-point lead throughout the fourth quarter, with 3s by Dimetrious Jones, Nate Lawson and Ayvan Redic finishing off the Pirates’ long list of successful outside shots.

Defensively, the Pirates held Cape Fear to 12 points or less in three of the four quarters.

“It started with defense,” Aiden Locklear said. “Coach told us the way we were going to win this game was defense, and that’s what led us to this win tonight.”

Shephard grabbed 20 rebounds and had four assists and five steals in addition to his scoring contributions. Dimetrious Jones scored 16 points and Nate Lawson had 10 for the Pirates.

Damien Gary led Cape Fear with 14 points and Mehakai Coleman, Rico McDonald and Arrington Kee all scored seven points apiece for the Colts.

Lumberton now enters a three-game week that could potentially define its season, with each of the three coming against the top half of the United-8. The Pirates face Jack Britt on Tuesday, looking to avenge a last-second loss to the Buccaneers on Jan. 5, before playing a makeup game Wednesday at home against South View and facing the Tigers again on Friday.

“It’s going to make a statement,” Aiden Locklear said. “If we win those three games, that’s a statement for us, so that’s a big week for us next week.”

Lady Pirates can’t contain Colts

Facing a tough test against United-8 Conference-leading Cape Fear Friday, the Lumberton girls basketball team struggled with turnovers, leading to a strong offensive night for the Colts, who won 81-56.

“Our defense wasn’t terrible; where they got their gimme points was off our turnovers,” Lumberton coach Ivy Johnson said. “Turnovers lead to fast breaks or they leaked out over the top. I think that we actually were OK defensively. … We just have to make sure we’re handling the ball and making good decisions with the ball; that seems to be our Achilles heel right now.”

Jayda Angel scored 31 points to lead Cape Fear (14-1, 7-0 United-8), as the dynamic do-it-all guard hit her eye-popping season scoring average. Other Colts provided supplemental scoring, with Kayia Starling scoring 24 points and Elisabeth Kirkland tallying 12.

“They’re a well-balanced team, and when you’ve got a player like Jayda that can help everybody on the team get going — she’s not a selfish player at all,” Johnson said. “She does a lot for them.”

The Colts stretched out their advantage over the first three quarters, taking a 23-13 lead after the first period behind a 10-point quarter from Angel and leading 43-27 at halftime after she scored nine more in the second stanza. -Cape Fear led 66-40 at the end of the third quarter.

Lumberton’s Gabby Locklear hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as part of a 13-point period; she led the Pirates with 23 points. Andrea Brown scored 14 points for Lumberton, Charley Whitley had nine and BreAndrea Glover scored six.

“Gabby struggled a little bit, but to see her work herself out of a hole and come alive at the end, and keep working and fighting, that was a positive for tonight,” Johnson said. “Charley Whitley’s energy and hustle is always a positive. She had nine points, nine rebounds as the smallest person on the floor — that’s tough.”

Like the boys team, the Lady Pirates play Tuesday at Jack Britt before facing South View on both Wednesday and Friday.