CERRO GORDO — St. Pauls coach Travis Lemanski wasn’t sure how his team would respond Thursday night at West Columbus two days after an emotional seven-point loss to Three Rivers Conference-leading Fairmont.

Deion Gilchrist, one of Lemanski’s senior captains and go-to players, made sure the Bulldogs would bounce back in convincing fashion. Paced by Gilchrist’s career-high 33 points, St. Pauls won its 12th game of the season in Cerro Gordo with a 69-57 win.

The victory keeps the Bulldogs one game behind Fairmont in the league standings following the Golden Tornadoes’ blowout win against East Columbus.

Fairmont pushes league streak to 33 games

LAKE WACCAMAW — Nursing a sore ankle, Fairmont junior guard Shemar Barfield never found a rhythm and finished with a season-low point total — a single free throw — in Tuesday’s win at St. Pauls.

On Thursday night against the East Columbus Gators, Barfield responded with one of his best games of the season, scoring a game-high 23 points during his team’s 91-48 win. Fairmont (16-3, 5-0) has now won 33 consecutive games against teams from the Three Rivers dating back to the 2010-2011 season.

The Golden Tornadoes are five wins away from another perfect league season and third straight conference championship.

Lady Gators tighten grip on conference

East Columbus’ girls basketball team raced out to an early double-digit lead against Fairmont Thursday night and didn’t look back, beating the Lady Golden Tornadoes 56-38.

“We played better in the second half, but by then, it was too late,” Fairmont coach Chris Rodriguez said.