It was that way for the Egyptian Pharaohs on Saturday at the Dongola Christmas Tournament.

First they put together a strong showing in beating Pope County in the afternoon.

But the day ended with a downer as Coach Allen Pearman's club lost to Joppa a few hours later.

In this round robin format the tie-breaker, when there are three teams at 2-1, is free throw percentage.

The defeat that night, along with hitting just 7-of-17 free throws in the Joppa loss, gave the Rangers the championship.

Even in the win over the Pirates, Egyptian connected on just 8-of-15 from the stripe.

Joppa nailed 9-of-13 in the 58-52 win over the Pharaohs.

Joppa ended up at 61.5 percent (24-of-39) while Egyptian was 41-of-77 (53 percent).

Pope County ended up 24-of-48.

So the championship went to the Rangers for the second time since joining the event.

Christian Trexler of Egyptian was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

EGYPTIAN 59, POPE COUNTY 46
The Pharaohs got off to a tremendous start and absorbed the best Pirates' scoring move of the game in rolling to their second victory of the tournament.

Coach Pearman saw his team rocket out to an 18-7 lead in the first minutes of action.

Egyptian got 17-points from Ethan Warren, a 6-foot junior forward, while 5-foot-9 junior guard Brandon Beasley notched 16 in the afternoon affair.

A third double-digit scorer; 5-foot-9 junior guard Christian Trexler, tossed in 11.

“Ethan Warren, I thought he played a tremendous game offensively and defensively,” said Coach Pearman. “(Christian) Trexler didn't have a great game but his teammates stepped up today.”

Three different Pirates hit for double-figures with 18-points coming from 5-foot-10 senior guard Matthew Davis.

Coach Jim Simmons got 10-points each from 5-foot-10 junior guard Jackson Eddington and 6-foot senior Sabastion Fasolo.

The Pharaohs staked themselves to a 9-0 lead in the first 2:43 of the contest.

Beasley and Trexler opened the afternoon session with back-to-back drives for points.

Trexler turned his bucket into a three-point play as he was fouled in transition.

A 1-of-2 chance from the foul line and a 3-point bomb by Beasley pushed the Pharaohs to that 9-0 advantage.

Trexler and Warren added more points to the run with Trexler hitting a baseline jumper to push the addy to 18-7.

The Pirates best run of the game occurred at the end of the opening frame and carried into the second.

Davis nailed a 15-footer and Eddington scored on drive in the lane which closed the first quarter scoring at 18-11.

Egyptian hit 7-of-10 field goals in the stanza.

Pope County finished off their run at 11-0 with Davis and 6-foot senior Jacob Rison contributing.

Davis nailed two 3-point bombs sandwiched around a Rison free throw to even the score at 18-18 with 6:31 remaining in the half.

Beasley hit a pair of free throws and Trexler again scored driving to the basket.

Coach Pearman got a big spark off of his bench from 5-foot-3 junior guard Dawson Essex.

He nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing and then made a steal and was fouled on a fast break attempt.

He was shaken up on the play and Beasley came back off of the bench to make both free throws which gave Egyptian a 25-18 lead.

Six-foot-two junior Logan Wilson grabbed a rebound for Pope County and stuck it home while being fouled.

His made free throw got the Pirates back to within four.

The Pharaohs, behind two more scores by Beasley, pushed the lead back out to 30-21.

A 3-pointer from Davis and a free throw Fasolo got the teams to the break at 30-25 Egyptian.

“We got off to a bad start but we overcame that and tied it up. We were down five at the half but we didn't handle their (Egyptian) pressure very well, I don't know why,” said Coach Simmons. “We just have to go back and make some adjustments. We have to be able to teams getting up on us. They do a good job defensively.”

The Pharaohs beginning of the second half was as impressive as their first quarter scoring journey.

They outgunned the Pirates, 12-2, coming out of the half.

Warren scored three times in the run, as he scored on a nice midrange shot and then followed it up with a nice drive to the goal.

He made a nice assist to senior reserve Jordon Reeves for a score while being fouled in the process.

Reeves missed the foul shot but Warren was right there for a rebound and a stick back for a 41-27 lead at the 3:56 mark.

“Jordan Reeves, he is a senior that does a really good job for us on the glass. He finds the basketball, and Zion LaGrone (5-foot-10 junior) that knows how to use his basketball body that he has to get up and rebound.”

A free throw from Beasley and then a Pope County 3-pointer from Fasolo closed the book on the third quarter with Egyptian in control at 42-30.

The Pirates last chance came with Fasolo adding two more 3-pointers.

His second 20-footer followed by a pair of charity tosses by Rison, cut the margin down to just 52-44 with :51.2 left.

Egyptian put the game to bed with five consecutive made free throws by LaGrone and Essex.

LaGrone closed the scoring on a bucket on an assist from Warren as the Pharaohs improved to 2-0 in the event.

Statistically Egyptian controlled the outcome in every category.

Coach Pearman saw hit team hit 18-of-29 field goal attempts overall, mostly on drives to the basket.

The Pirates weren't so fortunate on this afternoon as they ended up just 16-of-45 overall and only 8-of-24 from the 3-point arc.

The Pharaohs pounded the boards, controlling the game with a 31-21 edge.

They forced 15 Pope County turnovers, with seven of those coming on charging fouls taken by Egyptian.

“We work on that a lot (at practice). Some people are afraid to (take charges) but we look at it in that if you are going to take charges you need to learn to do it the right way and create a turnover,” said Coach Pearman. “LaGrone is one of the best kids I've ever had (taking charges) and he is just in tenth grade. You will hear a lot more about him in the next two years.”

The Pharaohs committed 12-turnovers, but five of those came late in the game when the outcome was decided.

Egyptian although they hit their free throws late, overall it was a stat that would eventually lead to their tournament demise later in the day.

Pope was a bit better at 6-of-10.

“They stepped up and took some big charges, out kids just ran over them,” said Coach Simmons. “We have to do a better job all around.”