ROMULUS -- Forgive Skyline if it looked a little rusty Saturday afternoon.

Three full weeks into the basketball season, the Eagles have only made it onto the court for two games.

The second of those came Saturday afternoon at the Romulus Holiday Classic, when Skyline fell in a back-and-forth game to Windsor Catholic Central, 51-44.

More coverage: Boxscore

The Eagles led by two after three quarters, and was able to generate open looks and fast break opportunities, but struggled shooting from the floor throughout the game. Windsor Catholic outscored Skyline, 19-10 in the fourth quarter.

“The offense in the second game of the year is just lagging behind,” Skyline coach Mike Lovelace said. “We had some good shots, but they didn’t go in. We felt like our defensive effort was good enough to pull this out. We shot a very low percentage tonight.”

Skyline was one of three Washtenaw County teams competing in the annual tournament. Pioneer scored a win over Detroit Southeastern, while Lincoln fell to Detroit Catholic Central.

Skyline’s trimester system means the first week of the season falls during exams week, giving the Eagles a late start to competition.

The Eagles’ only other game this season was a 49-47 loss to Salem 11 days ago, against a team that went 20-3 last year. It was scheduled to face Dexter Friday night, before a power outage at the school caused the game to be postponed.

After the long layoff, Skyline scored just seven points in the first quarter and 17 in the first half. Marquis Wesley led Skyline with 12 points and nine rebounds. Shawn Triplett came off the bench and finished in double figures with 10.

“It’s definitely difficult playing against teams that have had extra time to see some film on themselves and work on the details a little bit more,” Lovelace said.

But the Eagles’ defense kept it in the game against a talented Windsor team, particularly in the first half.

And Lovelace still has high hopes for a deep Eagles team with seven seniors and six juniors.

“When the shots do start falling, it’ll be contagious and it’ll be fun to watch,” Lovelace said.

Pioneer strong at stripe

Pioneer stayed in the game at the free throw line in the first half, and put the game away at the line in the second.

The Pioneers finished 23-for-28 at the line, an 82 percent clip, in topping Detroit Southeastern, 62-60.

More coverage: Boxscore

Success at the stripe proved crucial in the first half when the Pioneers went cold from the floor, and again later in the game when turning away a late Southeastern comeback try.

“We were just not able to do anything offensively,” Pioneer coach Rex Stanczak said of the first half. “We couldn’t make a shot, we couldn’t get into our offense.

“Those are the periods of time when you have to grind it out with getting stops, defending, and making your free throws when you get the opportunities.”

The Pioneers’ top two scorers led the way: Jibreel Hussein finished 12-for-12 and notched 24 points, and Tevis Robinson finished 4-for-4 with 12 points.

After going into halftime tied, Pioneer held on to a single-digit lead through most of the second half. It expanded that lead during a 10-3 run in the late third and fourth, behind 3-pointers from William Kirchen and Aedan York.

After an 0-2 start to the season, Pioneer finished the weekend unbeaten with wins over Father Gabriel Richard, Lincoln and Detroit Southeastern.

“We had a tough first week and I’m really proud of the way they responded,” Stanczak said.

Third-quarter stretch dooms Lincoln

The box score shows a 19-point margin loss Lincoln’s 60-41 defeat to Detroit Catholic Central Saturday at the Romulus Holiday Classic.

But this wasn’t a typical 19-point loss.

After battling back from an early deficit, Lincoln tied the game at 24 with four minutes left in the third quarter. The game had all the markings of being close until the end.

But starting halfway through the third, DCC started creating open shots off of a high screen. Lincoln coach Rich Marion said the Shamrocks used the screen to hit at least three 3-pointers, while his defense struggled to adjust.

More coverage: Boxscore

DCC went on a 17-2 run, finishing the quarter up by 11. Lincoln was forced to play a trap defense in the fourth, allowing DCC to extend its lead.

“That’s how thin the margin of error is in basketball,” Marion said. “You look at the score and you’d say ‘Man, they got hammered.’ You get to the point down the road where you do the right thing in those four or five possessions and it’s a different basketball game.”

Tyler Mabry led Lincoln with 11, followed by seven from Javin Kilgo. Mitch Katkic scored 17 for Detroit Catholic Central.

The loss was Lincoln’s third straight, and second in as many nights after falling to Pioneer Friday night.

But while Friday night Lincoln was never able to recover from its early deficit, Saturday afternoon it was. The Railsplitters went down 11-4 early, but started the second quarter on a 12-4 run in to take their first lead of the game.

Marion said Lincoln, a team that starts four sophomores, had success at younger age groups, and is learning how to overcome early adversity.

“They’re not used to getting jumped on like that,” Marion said. “It’s going to be a process mentally to take those punches and go right back at teams, and I think we did that tonight.”

After a 3-0 start to the season, capped of by a 50-45 upset of Huron, Lincoln has now lost three straight as it faces a tough string of competition.

“The key is not to lose confidence,” Marion said. “While we’re winning, stay up. I’m going to keep trying to build them up as we go through this stretch.”Marion said. “You look at the score and you’d say ‘Man, they got hammered.’ You get to the point down the road where you do the right thing in those four or five possessions and it’s a different basketball game.”

The loss was Lincoln’s third straight, and second in as many nights after falling to Pioneer Friday night.

But while Friday night, Lincoln was never able to recover from its early deficit, Saturday afternoon it was. Lincoln went down 11-4 early, but started the second quarter on a 12-4 run in to take its first lead of the game.

Marion said Lincoln, a team that starts four sophomores, had success at younger age groups, and is learning how to overcome early adversity.

“They’re not used to getting jumped on like that,” Marion said. “It’s going to be a process mentally to take those punches and go right back at teams, and I think we did that tonight.”

After a 3-0 start to the season, capped of by a 50-45 upset of Huron, Lincoln has now lost three straight as it faces a tough string of competition.

“The key is not to lose confidence,” Marion said. “While we’re winning, stay up. I’m going to keep trying to build them up as we go through this stretch.”

Kyle Austin covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kyleaustin@annarbor.com or 734-623-2535. Follow him on Twitter @KAustin_AA.