The Pinecrest girls allowed a total of only four baskets in the middle quarters on the way to a 44-31 victory over Red Springs at James Moore Gym Tuesday evening.

The Patriots overcame an erratic performance on the offensive end to improve to 3-0 on the season. Jennie Joy led the winners with 12 points, and Janea Williams added six to go along with 15 rebounds and four blocked shots. The Red Devils dropped to 0-3.

Coming off big wins over Jack Britt and Seventy-First, first-year Patriot coach Mike Loutzenheiser watched his team fall behind 10-6 after one quarter of action.

“I don’t know what it was, but something happened tonight,” he said. “We lost a little bit of our mojo. It was kind of a team thing and not anybody individually. But effort got us through this one. The girls played hard and showed a lot of heart.”

Joy, the team’s leading scorer and playmaker, missed an early morning practice on Monday and sat out the first half. Guards Shaniqua Collins and Keegan Lynch sparked an 8-0 second quarter run as the Patriots took a 19-14 lead into the intermission.

“Shaniqua is a hard-working young lady and gives me everything she has,” Loutzenheiser said of the senior.

Two baskets by Joy, and one by Lizzie Smith, off a pass from Collins, put the Patriots in command at 25-16 late in the third period. A drive for two points by Lynch in the fourth gave them their biggest margin of 13 points.

The Patriot guards along with Williams and Felicia Painter underneath made sure the Devils never mounted a comeback. Williams had three of her blocks in the third period.

Collins’ aggressiveness earned her a total of 10 free throws. She made six of them and finished with eight points. Overall the Pats went 12-for-27 from the charity stripe. With another big night on the boards, Williams has averaged 14.3 rebounds per game.

The Patriots continue to be strong in the second half. They have outscored their three opponents 86-54 after the intermission. They were scheduled to entertain Southern Lee on Thursday.

“The effort was there,” Loutzenheiser said in summing things up. “We just have to execute better.”

Contact Charlie Bergmann at cbergmann@nc.rr.com.

Red Springs 10 4 5 12 31

Pinecrest 6 13 11 14 44

Red Springs — Murray 3 2-3 9, McPhaul 3 0-0 7, Oxendine 2 0-0 4, Murphy 5 1-1 11. Totals 13 3-4 31; Pinecrest — Painter 2 2-4 6, Lynch 2 1-5 5, Collins 1 6-10 8, McKenzie 1 0-0 2, Williams 3 0-0 6, Smith 1 3-4 5, Little 0 0-2 0, Joy 6 0-2 12. Totals 16 12-27 44. Three-point goals: (RS) 2 (Murray, McPhaul); (PC) none.