PEMBROKE — People say the first time is the sweetest. Finally for the Red Springs boys' basketball team, it can say it has tasted the sweet victory of a Robeson County Shootout championship.

The Red Devils went 14-for-19 from the free-throw line in the final quarter to capture a hard-fought victory over Fairmont 64-58 and win its first Robeson County Shootout Friday night at Purnell Swett High School.

Red Springs coach Glenn Patterson Sr. was all smiles after the game, receiving congratulations from fans on the court.

"We made this one of our goals in the beginning of the season to win this," Patterson Sr. said. "It feels great because we were the only Robeson County boys' team to not have won the shootout until tonight."

Glenn Patterson Jr. scored a game-high 29 points in the victory, including going 10-of-11 from the free-throw in the final 5:37 to seal the win.

According to Patterson Sr., he wanted to put the ball in his junior point guard's hands in the final quarter because of the way the referees were calling the game, as both teams combined to shoot 43 free throws in the period.

"We had to change our strategies because they (the referees) were calling it tight," Patterson Sr. said. "We knew we were going to have to win it with free throw shooting. We wanted the ball in Glenn's hands and wanted him to attack the basket."

Patterson Jr. was named the shootout's Most Valuable Player and credited his teammates for helping him win the award.

"It feels great, but I couldn't do without my boys," Patterson Jr. said.

Fairmont coach Richard Mitchell knew his team left several points at the free throw, including 10 in the decisive final quarter.

"We just missed too many free throws at the end," Mitchell said. "I think our legs were just gone after playing three hard-fought games in a row."

Despite their woes at the free-throw line, Fairmont (6-5) used a 4-0 mini-run to cut the lead to 55-53 with 1:02 left in the game after two free-throws by Juwan Addison, but were unable to get a defensive stop the rest of the way.