FAIRMONT — On a night in which Fairmont boys basketball honored a memorable team from its past, the present-day Golden Tornadoes provided the latest example that they, too, could ultimately be a team long remembered in Fairmont.

The program honored its 1994 state championship team at halftime; that presentation was sandwiched by two halves of basketball in which the Golden Tornadoes dominated visiting Red Springs in a 65-32 win.

“They’re making their own history,” said Fairmont coach Montrell McNair, who graduated from Fairmont the year before the state championship team. “That team right there made their history in 1994, a well-rounded, team-oriented type of team, and I’m trying to model my team after what they do. The way they played as a team, fought together, they can come together about anything, that’s a team you want to model your team after.”

Six members from the 1994 team were present Friday: then-head coach Michael Baker, who is still in the Golden Tornadoes program as athletic director and an assistant basketball coach; then-assistant coach Richard Mitchell; and players Derrick Vaught, Wesley Hinson, Tony Burnett and Michael Britt.

“It’s great to see those guys again. We thought about, hey, it’s 30 years … let’s do something,” Baker said. “Our program was really going on, and those guys were a product of the teams before that. It was the method of how we ran things. … Those guys just didn’t know how to lose. I don’t care how much you ran up on them, I really felt confident we were going to come back. … That team knew how to do things to win.”

The 2024 Golden Tornadoes earned their 17th win of the season — winning their fifth straight game and the eighth in their last nine — as the champs three decades their senior watched courtside from reserved seating on the right baseline.

“(The current players) were talking to some of the state championship guys earlier, and they said ‘guys, we used to crush these guys,’” Baker said. “You always want to come back and do well in front of ex-players, and especially a team of that caliber.”

Seniors Issac McKellar and Tyrek Thompson provided the leadership for Fairmont (17-4, 7-1 Southeastern Athletic Conference) with key baskets throughout. McKellar scored 19 points; Thompson had 11 points with five rebounds.

“We needed everything they gave us tonight,” McNair said. “They stepped up as senior leaders and made the plays that we needed them to make on both sides of the ball.”

Red Springs (9-13, 4-4 Southeastern), meanwhile, played without two starters including leading scorer Kaedon Porter.

“Of course not having (Porter) hurt took away one of our scorers. He’s probably averaging 20-plus points per game,” Red Springs coach Glenn Patterson Jr. said. “That made it more challenging because Makhi (Arthur) had to do a lot of ball-handling. … Overall, I think our guys still did a great job handling the pressure, because we had plenty of open looks, and it was us, we didn’t make shots.”

Red Springs held an early 4-2 lead before Fairmont finished the first quarter with a 13-3 run to take a 15-7 lead at the end of the period. Tyrek Thompson had seven first-quarter points for the Golden Tornadoes, including a 3-point shot and a traditional 3-point play.

“I had to rebound the ball and get the ball up; easy points, that was it,” Thompson said.

“That was key because when a team is down (players) like they were tonight, when they get any kind of confidence in what they’re doing, their energy level comes up and they get more confident in what they’re doing,” McNair said. “We couldn’t afford to let them get that kind of confidence in this game, because we knew they were going to be struggling without (Porter) and we wanted to pressure them as much as possible.”

Fairmont expanded its lead to 25-10 with 4:50 left in the half; Red Springs used baskets by Justice McMillan and Arthur to pull to a 25-14 deficit and trailed 29-16 at halftime.

Fairmont opened the second half with an 8-3 spurt, stretching its lead to 37-19, before the Red Devils ended the third with an 8-2 run, with all eight points coming from Arthur. Fairmont led 39-27 at the end of the third.

But any momentum Red Springs may have carried into the fourth didn’t last; McKellar scored the first six points of the fourth, sparking an extended run for Fairmont. With only free throws in between for Red Springs, Fairmont went on runs of 10-0, 7-0 and 9-0 — for a broader run of 26-3 — to blow it open in the final period.

“We were gassed,” Patterson said. “Most of it was we just couldn’t line up, because everyone that Fairmont sent in was very athletic. We were trying to stick with their subs — there was no dropoff when they subbed. … They played pressure defense and they made their defense into easy offense. They were just playing layup lines.”

“In the fourth quarter I knew their legs weren’t going to be there,” McNair said. “It sucks when you lose your primary ball handler, and now your secondary ball handler has to do all the work. We did everything we could to take it out of his hands, double teaming him, making him give it up, and it kind of hurt them a little bit more.”

Landon Cummings scored nine points with five rebounds to supplement McKellar and Thompson for Fairmont, Josiah Billings had six points with nine rebounds and Xavier Johnson scored six points.

Arthur scored 12 points to lead Red Springs, Isaiah Oxendine scored seven points with seven rebounds and Tim Hammonds had five points with nine rebounds.

Fairmont won its fifth-straight game Friday; on Tuesday they’ll host the team that dealt them their last loss, league-leading West Bladen, with the Tornadoes looking to avenge that loss and pull even for the conference lead.

“We’ve just got to come ready to play the whole 32 minutes,” McNair said. “I felt like down there maybe we didn’t play the whole game the way we’re supposed to, with the intensity we’re supposed to play it with. We just need to be a little more focused on Tuesday.”

Red Springs plays Tuesday at Midway.

Defensive effort leads to Lady Tornadoes’ rebound win

After a tough loss Tuesday in St. Pauls, the Fairmont girls basketball team was looking to rebound at home against Red Springs Friday. The Golden Tornadoes’ defense helped them do just that in a 58-21 win over the Red Devils.

“I think they were excited about being back on the court, and then after giving them the simple conversation about enjoying the game and just playing, and all the things they’ve already acheived, overachieved … just play basketball,” Fairmont coach Marcus Thompson said. “I think they relaxed and got back to enjoying basketball.”

Fairmont (19-3, 7-1 Southeastern) led 22-2 at the end of the first quarter, with Red Springs (4-16, 2-6 Southeastern) held off the scoreboard until Cabanna Wilkins hit a basket with 2:15 left in the period. The Red Devils’ second basket did not come until the 1:40 mark of the first half, and Fairmont led 37-7 at halftime.

“I’m glad they were able to come out and put up a defensive stand,” Thompson said. “In the third quarter I pulled them back a little bit more, and Red Springs took advantage of that and got some points. … It was great for those girls to get out there and be able to do that.”

The Golden Tornadoes led 52-15 at the end of the third quarter and reached the 40-point-lead threshold for a running clock early in the fourth.

Taniya Simms scored 18 points with 11 rebounds for Fairmont, Myasia Simms had 10 points and five rebounds, Miah Smith scored nine points with six rebounds and Aniya Rogers scored seven points.

Monica Washington scored nine points with eight rebounds to lead Red Springs; Cabanna Wilkins had four points and eight rebounds and Adrianna Locklear also scored four points.

Fairmont hosts West Bladen on Tuesday; Red Springs plays at Midway .