By STAN CALDWELL/Sports Writer

LUMBERTON — The two regular season meetings between Resurrection and Lumberton were decided by a total of five points, with each team winning on its home court.

But the one that mattered most – the opening round of the Region 8-1A Tournament – went to the Panthers in decisive fashion. Lumberton used a big second quarter to build a double-digit margin and rolled over the Eagles 46-37 at the LHS gymnasium.

RCS, which finished fourth-seeded in the region, finished its season 8-13 overall. Lumberton (7-8) advanced to the tournament semifinals and will battle top-seeded Enterprise-Lincoln at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“You’re not going to win with a lot of turnovers,” said Resurrection coach David Pilger. “Every possession matters, and when you lose possessions to turnovers, you’re not going to win.”

Both teams had trouble finding the basket in the early going. Resurrection owned a brief 2-0 lead, but the Panthers scored seven unanswered points before 6-foot-10 sophomore Simeon Ballard got a layup near the end of the first quarter.

It was one of the few good looks Ballard got all night, as he had to battle through a wave of double and triple teams.

“Their plan was to front me and get behind me,” said Ballard. “I didn’t really have a chance to go up for the ball. I kept telling my teammates to swing the ball like a little spring, but it was hard to get through the bodies in the middle.”

Ballard did his part on defense, with 8 rebounds – 6 on the defensive end – and 6 blocks, but he was held to just 8 points for the game, and was not a big factor on offense.

“We tried to do a four-out and let Simeon down low to get him some space and open some things up,” said Pilger. “But we weren’t hitting the shots today. If we’re not hitting the shots, they’re going to stay back and double him.”

The second quarter started like the game would evolve as the previous two meetings, low-scoring and close. Junior Wyatt Schnoor swished a 3-point shot to tie the game 7-7, then converted a soft 8-foot jump shot in the lane to tie it again at 9 apiece.

But that would be the last time it would be that close, as Lumberton came alive offensively, and Eagles failed to respond.

The Panthers missed 16 of their first 18 shots from the field, but when they got their transition game going, that changed in a hurry.

“We knew we had to push the ball up the court and not let the big man get set, and we made the shots we were supposed to make, made free throws and played fundamental basketball,” said Lumberton coach Dante Durr.

“We’re not going to let (Ballard) beat us inside, so we let the shooters take the shots, and if they make them, more power to them.”

Seniors Chase Toney and Lathan Bowens took turns getting fast-break layups for Lumberton, and Toney also hit a 3-ball in a 14-0 run that effectively decided the game.

“Our problem was we were missing too many shots,” said Pilger. “We couldn’t put the ball in the basket. Everyone was missing shots, and we gave a lot of free throws. So we were fouling them and we couldn’t get a shot to fall.”

The first-half numbers tell a grim story for RCS. The Eagles were just 4 of 21 from the field (19.0 percent) in the first and second quarters, and just 2 of 8 from the foul line.

Trailing 23-11 at halftime, Resurrection scrapped back in the third quarter, cutting the margin to nine, 29-20, on a 3-pointer from sophomore Judd Burlison.

But that was as close as the Eagles would get, and Lumberton ripped off another 7-0 surge to end the quarter, five points coming in the last five seconds of the period, on a 3-point shot, a steal and a fast-break layup, all by Bowens just ahead of the buzzer for a 36-20 lead.

Bowens finished with 19 points to lead all scorers.

The Panthers built as much as a 19-point margin early in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles made the final score respectable by closing the game on an 8-0 run.

Fittingly, it was Jacob Woods, one of just two seniors on the Eagles’ roster, who got the final margin under double-digits, swishing the final shot of his high school career for a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“It was kind of an up-and-down season, with a new coach this year,” said Woods, who led the Eagles with 9 points. “It was my last game, and I’ve had fun, so I can’t complain. My whole thought was to get one more off before I was done forever.”

Although there were a few more downs than ups for the Resurrection this season, the future could be bright, with the number of underclassmen on the roster.

“For me, I’m going to work on getting bigger, get in the weights,” said Ballard. “I need to be more aggressive. And for the whole team, we need to work on passing and cutting down on turnovers.”

Pilger said the Eagles hope to build around Ballard, whose play as a first-year starter has turned some heads.

“Simeon is a beast,” said Pilger. “He’s a hard worker, he stays in the whole game. We’ve just got to improve our shooting to fee him up down low. He’s a leader for us, and he talks to the other players on the floor. So, yeah, he’s got a bright future.”

With the win, Lumberton secured a spot in the Class 1A playoffs, which begin next week.