The Randolph-Henry High School varsity boys basketball team held the lead for much of its contest against host Prince Edward County High School on Wednesday, but the Eagles pulled ahead in the fourth and won 55-49.

The loss dropped the Statesmen to 4-4.

“I thought we played three real good quarters, and we kind of fell off in the fourth quarter,” Statesmen Head Coach James Graves said. “I hate to blame officials, but it was probably as lopsided as I’ve ever seen in terms of calls and fouls.”

Prince Edward went to the line for 36 foul shots, making 23 of them, while Randolph-Henry went to the line for only four, making three.

Nevertheless, the Statesmen got off to a strong start in the first half.

“We scored the first nine points,” Graves said. “We were up by eight at the end of the first quarter.”

Randolph-Henry led 24-20 at halftime and 40-38 after three quarters. The Eagles held a 17-9 scoring edge in the fourth.

Despite the loss, Statesmen junior guard/forward Tremaine Pugh led all scorers with 26 points.

“Tremaine Pugh just had a dominating game,” Graves said. “He had several drives to the basket. He had four 3-pointers … so he had both (an) inside and outside game.”

Junior forward/center Billy Brantley Jr. had six points, and junior guard Nasheim Pettus added five before being injured.

“He got hurt at the end of the fourth quarter, which didn’t help us down the stretch,” Graves said. “He just banged knees (when) going after a ball, and it may be a good thing for us to have the snow because he was still kind of gimpy.”

Inclement weather has led to multiple postponed games, but R-H is set to host Buckingham County High School Thursday at 7 p.m.