Lumberton vs Fairmont Basketball Game

 

The Golden Tornadoes, playing their first game since a 2A East Regional Championship loss to eventual state champion Kinston last season, led by as many as 15 points in the first half and nearly got the last-second heroics they needed. With 3.8 seconds left and Lumberton ahead 64-60, the Golden Tornadoes worked the ball to Shemar Barfield in the far right corner. He drained the 3.
On Lumberton’s ensuing inbounds, the Golden Tornadoes stole it away, passed it to Barfield behind the arc, his shot clanging off the rim as time expired. Fairmont was playing its first game without reigning Robeson County Player of the Year Kwinton Hinson who transferred to Quality Education Academy in the offseason. While the Golden Tornadoes missed his presence inside, they got enough scoring from Barfield and Neal to offset the star forward’s offensive prowess. The game included the normal theatrics that come when the two schools play. Student sections chanted at each other, waving oversized heads.

The game even faced a halftime power outage due that delayed the second half by 10 minutes. Fairmont’s early pressure caused Lumberton headaches, but the Pirates stayed the course.
Lumberton ended the first half on an 8-0 run, getting two 3-pointers from Y’shawn Gaddy in the final minute to narrow the lead to 33-26. Gaddy scored the first points of the second half to start a 6-0 run that narrowed Fairmont’s lead to 33-32.

As the Lumberton basketball team prepared for its final possession in Friday’s 64-63 win against Fairmont, Demetri Sheridan made his way to his normal spot in the post, just to the left of the hoop. With the Pirates nursing a one-point lead with 24 seconds to play, Sheridan saw his chance. “I just tried to make a big play, put my team in the right position to win the game,” Sheridan said. Sheridan caught the ball on the block, went up for a layup and was fouled. The ball went through the net and the Pirates’ senior captain added a free throw for a four-point cushion. It was enough, just barely, Lumberton beat their cross-county rivals for the first time since 2010, avoiding a late push by the Golden Tornadoes.

(Courtesy of the Robesonian by Scott Schlaufman and Brad Crawford)