If you missed the only prep hoops game going on in Robeson County because you didn’t know about it or were busy trolling on Facebook or gripped by American Idol — or all of the above — don’t worry, I got you covered. Here’s what transpired …
8:20 p.m.: Late tip-off due to elongated Fairmont-South Columbus girls game. Fairmont fell 44-34.
8:24: Three minutes gone, zero points from Fairmont boys. Meanwhile, the Stallions have stampeded out to … 2.
8:25: Leave it to the Tornadoes’ leading-scorer Draquaine Floyd (14.5) to change that. The 6-foot-5 forward effortlessly spins off a defender’s back and drops in a bucket as he’s hacked across the wrist.
8:28: South Columbus has a lengthy forward of its own making it look easy, 6-foot-6 McKever Pharoah, who looks at least as old as his jersey number — 22. Pharoah, all tree trunk legs and palms, has all eight Stallion points.
8:30: Fairmont’s shooting woes really showing. Lot of missed layups and clanged jumpers. And now a dunk: Alex Gilchrist’s high-rising fastbreak slam attempt spikes off the back iron. Yet, the Tornadoes only trail by two, 10-8.
8:35: Pharoah nets two free throws for his 9th and 10th points. Luckily for Fairmont, his teammates aren’t giving him much help.
8:36: The Fairmont faithful are voicing that the refs, however, are helping the Stallions, who have one foul to the Tornadoes’ five. “Hey ref, that whistle’s made for blowin’,” a bespectacled fan shouts to the men in stripes. His sarcastic quip sounds like the song title of a sports themed Weird Al Yankovic EP.
8:40: With the score knotted at 12-12, Jackie Oxendine beats the buzzer with a 3 to give FHS a slim edge and maybe some momentum(?) after one.
8:50: Nope. Fairmont manages just two points through the first five minutes in the second. Meanwhile, I overhear bespectacled fan announce a UNC-N.C. State score. 72-49. Miss who he says is leading but my gut says the Tar Heels (gut is proven right).
8:55: Uneventful second quarter yields a 22-16 Fairmont lead at halftime. Notable stat: Fairmont is shooting a dismal 24 percent. But, they are still leading. Somehow.
9:09: Tornadoes come out of halftime with a 6-0 run, capped by a Jarrod Neal triple. In defensive news: Charlton Townsend is beasting on the boards. Pulls down his eighth.
9:15: SC counters with a 7-0 run.
9:20: Fairmont answers with a 9-0 run. I can’t tell if the two teams are having good spurts of offense or lackluster letdowns on defense. Either way, the pace of the game is picking up and the crowd is starting to buzz.
9:25: Floyd leads a 2-on-1 break with Gilchrist but sends a much-too-low bounce pass out of bounds. Fairmont coach Michael Baker stomps and flails his fist through the air — as if uppercutting a ghost — along the bench in frustration. Tornadoes up 37-28 after three.
9:35: Fairmont holding their biggest lead, 45-30, a minute into the fourth after consecutive inside buckets from Townsend and Floyd.
9:42: Fastbreak of the night. Knocked down in a scrum for a rebound, Neal catches the rebound from his seat and makes an outlet pass to Floyd who finds a streaking Townsend for a layup. Ballgame. (Well, there’s still four minutes left, but …)
9:55: Final score: Fairmont 66, South Columbus 54.
9:57: By the way, the Stallions’ Pharoah, who was on pace for 40 after the first, had only three since then to finish with a team-high 13.
10:00: More stats: Neal nets team-high 13 for Fairmont (13-4, 5-0) while Floyd follows with 12. Townsend fills the sheet with 9 points, 12 boards and 5 assists.
10:10: Townsend post-game: “That’s my job — get rebounds and post up. They call me the cleanup man around here. That’s all I got to do.”
10:12: Time to head home and — at some point soon — find out which crooners are heading to Hollywood.
Reach Sports editor Kaleb Roedel at 910-272-6111 or kroedel@heartlandpublications.com
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