By STAN CALDWELL/Sports Writer

LUMBERTON — The Resurrection boys let a winnable game slip through their hands Tuesday night in a Region 8-1A contest against Lumberton.

The Panthers came alive in the fourth quarter to ease past the Eagles 43-40 at the LHS gym. RCS dropped to 4-9 overall and 1-2 in the region. Lumberton improved to 4-3 and 2-0.

“We have a turnover problem, and until we correct that, we’re going to have a tough time beating teams,” said Eagles coach David Pilger. “We’re a decent-shooting team, but we’ve got to do a better job passing the ball.”

Indeed, Resurrection committed 27 turnovers, including 16 in the second half, and they spoiled an otherwise solid effort, especially on defense. RCS forced 22 turnovers in its own right, including eight in the second quarter.

The Eagles also let a monster game from 6-foot-10 sophomore Simeon Ballard got to waste. Ballard finished with 16 points, 16 rebounds – including 10 on the offensive glass – and 6 blocks.

“I just try to get big down there,” said Ballard. “I just kept a calm head and just played ball. I was being positive all night, encouraging the guys.”

Ballard dominated in the low post, despite being harassed by double and triple teams all night. He was especially dominant in the first half, with 12 points, including 6 of 10 from the foul line.

“Having Simeon’s presence down there really helps us out on defense,” said Pilger. “He’s a monster on defense, and a real shot-blocker. On offense, we’re still wanting him to improve a little bit more, but he’s getting better each day.”

Resurrection was just 2 of 10 shooting from the field in the first quarter, but both made field goals were 3-pointers, and they allowed the Eagles to overcome an early 4-0 deficit and take a lead they would maintain into the fourth quarter.

Resurrection led 9-6 after the opening period, and opened up a six-point lead, 14-8, before the Panthers reeled off a 9-2 run to briefly regain the lead.

However, Ballard ripped down an offensive rebound and got a putback layup to put Resurrection on top 18-17 heading into the halftime break.

“The first half, we stayed in the zone (defense) a good bit,” said Pilger. “We have a lot of quick guards, and having Simeon in the middle really helps us with our 2-3 zone.

“We had to get out of some at times in the second half, to try some traps and presses when we were down by a few points. But the zone is probably our best defense.”

Ballard wasn’t quite as effective in the second half, as the Panthers adjusted on defense. He had just four points and was 0 for 4 from the line, and he did not take a free throw in the final period.

“It’s my first time being the start player, but I’m starting to get used to it,” said Ballard. “I take it as a challenge.”

Nevertheless, Ballard was still a force on defense, with 9 rebounds and 3 blocks in the second half.

“We were able to get it to Simeon in the first half, but they did a better job of fronting him in the second half,” said senior Eric Fox, who had 8 points for RCS. “We just need to stay together and work on turnovers.

“We’ve got to get a lot better handling the ball before our next game, because Enterprise is a lot better than this team.”

Eight turnovers in the third quarter hurt the Eagles, and prevented them from building on a pair of six-point advantages in the period. RCS also did not shoot the ball well at any time in the game, finishing just 14 of 52 (26.9 percent) from the field for the game.

And after holding Lumberton to just 9 of 45 shots (20 percent) in the first three quarters, the Panthers were 7 of 12 (58.3 percent) in the final eight minutes, including 5 of their first 6 shots in the period.

“First half, (Ballard) had his way with us,” said Lumberton coach Dante Durr. “The second half, we pretty much fronted him in the halfcourt and doubled the help on the back side, so they couldn’t get the ball to him as easily.

“Our guys played well enough to keep him in check the second half, but he still had a great game. Our kids didn’t quit. They stayed with it, and made the plays when they needed to.”

Senior Chase Toney scored 9 of his team-high 15 points for Lumberton in the fourth quarter, as the Panthers outscored the Eagles 19-13 in the final period.

Fox took a steal to the rack for a fast-break layup on the opening possession of the quarter to give Resurrection a 29-24 lead. But that lead evaporated in a hurry, as the Panthers went on a decisive 14-3 run to take command.

The Eagles fought back and closed the deficit to two points on three occasions, but the Panthers converted 3 of 4 free throws in the final 30 seconds to salt away the hard-fought win.

With a hole new cast of players, and just eight players on the roster, it’s been a struggle at times for Resurrection against a good schedule for a Class 1A team, but Pilger thinks the tough times will make his team better through the rest of the season.

“We have eight solid guys on our team,” said Pilger. “All eight can start, and they can all play. It allows me to rotate in our bench players, and they all do a good job for us.

“We scheduled a lot of hard games to give our kids some work. We lost all of our starters from last season, so we’ve got a whole new group of players, and we wanted to play as many games as we could to get them some reps.”

The Eagles will hit the road again on Friday, travelling to Brookhaven to face Enterprise (Lincoln).