By Stan Caldwell/Sports Writer

RICHTON – Round One in the battle for supremacy in Region 8-1A goes to the Richton Rebels.

The Rebels used a spectacular fourth quarter to overcome the Eagles in a thrilling 86-80 victory Thursday night in a key region matchup at L.D. Ready Gymnasium on the Richton High campus.

Richton improved to 12-5 overall and 1-0 in region; RCS dropped to 12-4 and 1-1.

“Richton, they played well,” said Resurrection head coach David Pilger. “They got to the basket on us, and half our team fouled out. You come up here, and there are times when you’re going to foul out, and our bench has to step up, and we didn’t get that tonight.”

This one was a heavyweight fight between two teams with legitimate aspirations of playing in Jackson at the end of February, and the two teams played through 18 lead changes and 14 ties.

The Rebels took the lead for good with 2:06 to play on a free throw by senior B.J. Brown, in the midst of a decisive 10-0 finish, as the Eagles went scoreless the final four minutes of play.

“We got to be real hesitant, OK, and we didn’t run the offense that we needed to run,” Pilger said. “We got real tentative. You’ve got to keep working the offense, and you’ve got to score.”

The tone was set right from the start. Both teams attacked the basket throughout the game, both teams played swarming team defense, both teams got into transition almost at will and both teams took turned building and losing significant leads.

Senior Gian Vega got Resurrection going in the first quarter, with layups on three straight possessions, and the taller Eagles dominated on the boards in the early going.

However, Richton closed the first period with a 7-0 run to lead 23-15 after the first right minutes, then built what would be its largest lead of the night, 27-17, on a fast-break layup by junior Daquan Walker.

“We knew Resurrection was the team to beat in our region, and we knew they were going to be scrappy and fight hard,” said Richton coach Otto Crawford. “But I prepped our guys all week long, that they were going to try to trap and get out in transition.

“I thought we did a great job of slowing them down, and considering the caliber of players they have, that’s a tough thing to do But we stayed tough and came home with the victory.”

But that’s when sophomore Denzel Eaton went off for RCS, just about single-handedly getting the Eagles not only back in the game, but put them ahead before halftime with a 13-0 run.

Eaton scored 21 of his game-high 31 points in the second quarter, starting with 3 of 4 foul shots, before swishing a 3-point shot from the right baseline, drawing a foul and converting the free throw.

He followed that with another 3-ball from the same spot, then slashed in the lane from the right side for a tying basket. Junior Keyshawn Nesbitt put the Eagles ahead with a foul shot, then senior Tyrese Ricardo drove the lane to cap the surge.

“It was a lot of teamwork, and my team helped me,” Eaton said through an interpreter. “I’m working hard every day to get better.”

After the two teams traded punches through the rest of the second quarter, Eaton ended the half with a three-point play in the final seconds, taking a steal down the lane for a fast-break layup, plus a foul shot after drawing a blocking charge to put the Eagles ahead 45-42 at halftime.

“Denzel is awesome,” Pilger said. “He played great for us tonight, and he has so much potential. Unfortunately, he was the only one who played great. The rest of our team, our shooting was horrible tonight. If you can’t make the baskets, you’re going to lose.”

Resurrection didn’t shoot terribly, 37.3 percent from the field for the game (28 of 75), but the Eagles had several long stretches where they missed as many as 10 straight from the floor.

Foul shooting buoyed the Eagles in the second quarter, as they were 13 of 17 from the line in the period, and 3 for 3 in the third quarter. But they only attempted one foul shot in the fourth quarter, a miss on an and-one attempt.

By contrast, Richton shot a relatively poorly from the line, just 48.7 percent, but the Rebels took 39 free throws, and they converted 19, including 8 of 14 in the fourth quarter.

And Richton’s many trips to the line meant foul trouble for Resurrection. Junior Simeon Ballard picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter, and 6-foot-9 center was a non-factor on offense, and both Ricardo and Nesbitt fouled out in the fourth quarter.

Still, RCS played a strong third quarter, as Vega came alive with eight of his 21 points in the period.

After spotting the Rebels a 6-0 run to start the second half, Eaton tied it back up with three free throws after drawing a foul on a 3-point shot. That was the spark on a 16-4 run that gave RCS its biggest lead of the night, 61-52 with 3:13 to play in the third quarter.

After a time out, Richton slowly reeled Resurrection back in, as senior Daylin Carter came alive for the Rebels with a pair of key baskets in the third period to close the deficit to 63-58 heading into the final period.

Carte finished with 13 of his 19 points in the second half, while Brown had 13 of his 19 points in the first half.

“We got lucky and got some of their guys in foul trouble,” said Crawford. “But the main thing is our guys stayed the course with the game plan. They stayed together like we talked about all week, and pulled it out.”

Ultimately, it was Carter and sophomore Sanquillio Belton who powered Richton in fourth quarter. The Rebels hit six of their first seven shots and 10 of their first 13 in the period, all from inside four feet.

Nesbitt nailed a trey from the right side to give RCS a 68-62 lead, and Vega kept the Eagles afloat with a pair 3-pointers, then Eaton got free for a fast-break layup to give Resurrection a 78-72 lead, but that was the last gasp.

After taking care of the ball well in the first three quarters, the Eagles turned it over eight times in the final eight minutes, finishing with 17 turnovers. By contrast, Richton turned the ball over 19 times for the game, but only once in the fourth quarter.

It was Belton who did the most damage in the final stanza, with three scores on consecutive possessions, a putback layup, a soft four-foot jumper and another slash through the lane for a yet another layup. He finished with 21 points to lead the Rebels.

Finally, sophomore Jabari Breland got open in the low post to tie the game 80-80, and Rebels made enough of their free throws to win, as their defense forced turnovers on three straight possessions.

Nesbitt finished with 14 points and Ricardo had 10 points.

Round Two between Richton and Resurrection is scheduled for January 22 at Pascagoula, and Pilger said his team learned some things that he thinks will help turn the results around.

“Any team is beatable, and that’s what we learned tonight,” said Pilger. “You can’t let teams back in it at the end, like this happened here. So we’ve got to learn from this.”