LUMBERTON — Physically fatigued going into overtime of the second game in two nights, the Lumberton boys basketball team showed its mental toughness against Jack Britt.
With the team’s leading scorer watching on after fouling out, the Pirates scored with 30 seconds left to top the Buccaneers 69-67 for a Sandhills Athletic Conference win at home Tuesday.
“The kids wanted it tonight. They were tired and fatigued at halftime,” Lumberton coach Matt Hill said. “(Jack Britt) looked fresher than us, I don’t know if they were. But there at the end, we were mentally tough tonight and that’s what I was happy with.”
Lumberton (15-6, 7-4 SAC) was less than 24 hours removed from defeating Pinecrest for the second time this season as it welcomed Jack Britt (11-10, 5-6 SAC), who had lost three straight games.
Lumberton’s Jordan McNeill picked two fouls in the first two minutes of the game, and his final three fouls in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter, forcing him to watch the rest of the contest from the bench. With him out, players like senior Kwashek Breeden looked to provide a lift, and did so over the ensuing nine minutes of regulation and overtime.
“I had to step up and be the leader that the team expects me to be,” Breeden said. “I was feeling myself. I knew they were long and good team, and I’m long and a good player.”
Breeden scored 19 points in the game, with eight coming after McNeill fouled out. The forward’s bucket on a drive with 2:52 left put the Pirates up 59-54. The 19-point outburst came on the heels of two straight seven-point outings.
“I just had to get the feeling back and get in my groove,” Breeden said.
From there, the Bucs trimmed the lead down, and tied the game with 51 seconds left on a free throw from Langston Davis.
Lumberton held the ball for the remainder of regulation, and a Breeden 3-point attempt from the wing was off the mark sending the contest to overtime.
The Pirates opened the extra period with a 7-1 run to go up 66-61 on a Braylan Grice layup with 1:47 left. Jack Britt responded over the next minute to tie the game at 67-all on a Kaylon Keys shot in the paint.
The game-winning shot for Lumberton came on a layup from Tazarie Butler with 30 seconds to go.
“We stayed mentally strong and the kids listened,” Hill said. “They were very composed.”
Davis scored a game-high 22 points for Jack Britt, while teammates T.J. Ellis added 11 points and Eli O’Neal and Jordian Fox both had 10 points each. McNeill had 14 in limited time for the Pirates to go along with 11 points each from Grice and Jadarion Chatman.
Defense lifts Lady Pirates into a tie for second
Lumberton girls basketball coach Sam Davis knew that back-to-back nights against two of the top teams in the Sandhills Athletic Conference would require a lot from his team.
Another hurdle on the path came up this week when starting guard Zye Cade was suspended, but the Lady Pirates responded in a way that Davis had seen from his team this season.
“These girls did a great job without our point guard. They came together as a team and started communicating on the floor,” Davis said. “The past two games have been the best effort I’ve seen from them all year. I told them that if you give that kind of effort, you can still make mistakes and still win games.”
With active guards and a stout defense, Lumberton came away with a 40-23 win over Jack Britt at home on Tuesday. The win puts the Lady Pirates, the Lady Bucs and Seventy-First in a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings, and half a game behind Pinecrest.
“This was very important to put us in the thick of things,” Davis said. “Them two wins we got this week put us back. We still ain’t finished because we have to go to Richmond Friday and play well.”
Jack Britt (14-6, 8-3 SAC) came into the contest winners of five straight, but Lumberton (15-5, 8-3 SAC) locked in on the defensive end in the first 16 minutes to hold the visitors to 10 points.
Madison Canady scored all nine points for Lumberton in the first quarter as the Lady Pirates led 9-4 after the opening period. She scored 11 by halftime as Lumberton took a 16-10 lead into the break. Canady scored a game-high 20 points for Lumberton, while Rachel O’Neil added 10 points.
In the third quarter, Lumberton built a 27-16 lead that grew to 30-16 with an O’Neil triple to open the fourth quarter.
Jack Britt’s Ashara Hayes had 10 points.
Lumberton travels to Richmond on Friday.
