Pinecrest advanced to the semifinals of the Holiday in the Pines boys' basketball tournament with an 82-72 victory over E. E. Waddell on Wednesday.

The Patriots (7-5) were to meet defending state 4-A champion Wakefield (7-5) on Thursday at James Moore Gymnasium. Trinity Christian (14-0) met Richmond County (5-6) in the other semifinal contest.

Five Patriots scored in double figures, led by Adam Wire with 19 points, 16 rebounds and five assists. Josh Scales with 14, Seth Maness with 13, Jarrin Wooten with 12, and Tony Allbrooks with 10 were the other Patriots in double figures. Brandon Johnson led Waddell, now 0-12 on the season, with 23 points.

"They're the best 'O' and whatever team I've ever played against," Patriot coach Mike Apple said about a young Raiders' squad that would not go away. "I thought they did a good job of running their offense, they didn't get flustered, and I thought they shot excellently."

Sparked by three treys and 13 first-half points from Maness, the Patriots led 33-17 in the second quarter before Johnson became unstoppable near the basket. The 6-foot-5 senior rallied his team to within 46-37 at the intermission. He finished the half with 21 points.

A basket by the Raiders' Joseph Jones early in the third period cut the Patriot margin to seven, leading to a defensive change by Apple.

"We went to a triangle-and-two because we thought Johnson and "21" (Jones) were their best two players. We didn't want them to beat us," he said. "I thought it did a good job for us and helped us get that cushion we needed."

While Johnson was being shut out in the third period, Wire and Allbrooks, a junior varsity call-up, sparked an 8-0 run that stretched the lead to 64-46. The margin reached 19 in the fourth period before a late barrage of threes by the Raiders (six in the quarter) cut it to 10 at the end.

With starting point guard James Breeden seeing limited action because of a thigh injury and reserve small forward Ryan Spouse on crutches with a severe ankle sprain, Apple got valuable minutes from Allbrooks, a sophomore, freshman Cedric Threadgill (seven points) and senior Christian Johnstone (two points).

He has also been pleased with the ability of swingman Scales to handle guard duties when called upon.

"For his first varsity performance," Apple said of Allbrooks, "he didn't let things rattle him. I thought he played well."

Wakefield also put five players in double figures in its 72-48 victory over Overhills (2-8). Last season's state 4-A championship game MVP, Darius Johnson-Odom, led the Wolverines with 12 points and five assists. Freshman center Montel Baines was impressive, finishing with 11 points and 12 boards.

Ray Stroman, Tyquan Jones and Lovell Joy each scored 14 points in Richmond's surprisingly one-sided 83-52 trouncing of defending Holiday in the Pines champion, Lee County (2-7). The outcome was determined early when the Raiders erupted for a 46-18 halftime lead.

In Wednesday's opener, undefeated Trinity Christian got 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists from Jonathan Henderson in a 65-51 win over Northern Durham (4-7). A total of 10 free throws were taken in the game that lasted exactly one hour. The cold-shooting Knights were successful on only three of 25 three-point attempts.

Thursday afternoon's two consolation games had Northern Durham facing Lee County and Overhills meeting Waddell.

The tournament concludes today with three consolation games, beginning with the seventh-place game at 2 p.m. and ending with the 8 p.m. championship contest.

Waddell 12 25 9 26 -- 72

Pinecrest 23 23 18 18 -- 82

Waddell -- Martinez 5 5-6 18, McCullough 3 1-2 7, K. Jones 2 0-0 6, J. Jones 6 3-6 16, Johnson 10 3-5 23, Stevenson 0 0-0 0, Walker 1 0-0 2, Day 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 27 12-19 72.

Pinecrest -- Maness 5 0-0 13, Wire 9 1-4 19, Wooten 5 2-4 12, Johnstone 0 2-2 2, Scales 5 4-5 14, McRae 1 0-0 2, Breeden 0 0-0 0, Threadgill 3 0-0 7, Rhone 1 0-0 2, Allbrooks 4 2-6 10, Smetana 0 0-0 0, Galberth 0 1-2 1. Totals -- 33 12-23 82.

Three-point goals: Waddell 6 (Martinez 3, K. Jones 2, J. Jones); Pinecrest 4 (Maness 3, Threadgill).

Northern Durham 16 7 17 11 -- 51

Trinity Christian 17 17 15 16 -- 65

Northern Durham -- Stutts 4 0-0 10, Frush 1 2-2 4, Fairley 5 0-1 10, Holley 6 0-0 12, Adelman 3 0-0 6, Price 3 0-0 7, Peacock 1 0-0 2, Miller 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 23 2-3 51.

Trinity Christian -- R. Bethea 6 1-1 13, Young 4 0-0 8, McKinley 3 2-2 8, Henderson 9 1-2 20, Harris 3 0-0 7, Lassiter 3 0-0 7, Grey 0 2-2 2, McNair 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-0 0, Swain 0 0-0 0, Hardley 0 0-0 0, Northe 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 28 6-7 65.

Three-point goals: Northern Durham 3 (Frush 2, Price); Trinity Christian 3 (Lassiter, Henderson, Harris).

Lee County 6 12 20 14 -- 52

Richmond County 19 27 20 17 -- 83

Lee -- Verbal 1 0-0 3, Ray 5 2-2 12, Vernon 6 1-2 16, Cole 1 0-0 2, Gray 2 1-2 5, Phillips 1 0-0 2, Buie 2 0-0 5, Williams 1 1-2 3, Gay 1 0-0 2, Thompson 1 0-0 2. Totals -- 21 5-8 52.

Richmond -- Ingram 3 1-2 7, Stroman 3 8-8 14, Jones 6 0-0 14, Douglas 5 0-0 11, Joy 7 2-3 14, Sellers 5 2-2 14, Watts 3 0-2 6, Gilchrist 1 1-2 3, Griffin 0 0-0 0, David 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 33 14-19 83.

Three-point goals: Lee 5 (Vernon 3, Buie, Verbal); Richmond 3 (Sellers 2, Douglas).

Overhills 9 8 15 16 -- 48

Wakefield 19 19 19 15 -- 72

Overhills -- Hardison 1 1-2 4, Lee 1 0-0 2, Pratt 2 0-0 5, Boyd 5 2-5 12, Davis 0 1-2 1, Fils 2 0-0 4, Bosch 0 1-2 1, Sadiq 0 0-0 0, Schiro 4 1-2 9, Wise 3 0-0 6, Williams 2 0-2 4, Council 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 20 6-15 48.

Wakefield -- Johnson-Odom 4 2-4 12, Mosiman 6 0-0 13, Jeffers 0 0-0 0, Leonard 3 0-0 6, Baines 5 1-6 11, Redmond 3 1-2 7, Perry 1 0-0 2, Hairston 0 2-2 2, Johnson 4 2-2 10, Mullen 3 3-4 9, Craigmiles 0 0-1 0, Reece 0 0-0 0, Gray 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 29 11-21 72.

Three-point goals: Overhills 2 (Hardison, Pratt); Wakefield 3 (Johnson-Odom 2, Mosiman).