The Pinecrest girls fought off a fierce third quarter rally by Overhills and escaped with a 55-47 home victory Wednesday evening.

Janea Williams led the Patriots with 15 points and six rebounds. Jennie Joy contributed 14 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Erin Elliot fueled the Jaguar comeback with a game-high 26 points.

Combined with Tuesday’s 34-23 win at Red Springs, the Patriots take a 7-1 record into Monday’s 7:30 p.m. Pinecrest Holiday Basketball Tournament first round game against East Montgomery.

The Patriots took their biggest lead on Wednesday at 33-20 on a basket by Joy early in the third quarter. But later, the third trey of the period by Elliot put the Jags in front at 39-38. Another basket by Joy gave the lead back to the Pats for good going into the final eight minutes.

“That’s a team that fights hard,” Patriot coach Mike Loutzenheiser said of Overhills. “They came out in the third quarter and just played really tough, got in our face and contested shots.”

A jumper by Keegan Lynch and a full court sprint for two by Joy after grabbing a rebound put the Pats up 50-42, but the Jags made one more run. Leading 50-47 with a minute remaining, Lynch, Joy and Williams sewed up the win by combining to convert five of six free throw attempts.

The Patriots showed much improvement offensively over their performances in last week’s loss against Western Harnett and Tuesday’s ugly win at Red Springs. Five steals in the third quarter by Joy, and seven points by Williams, helped them get out of the doldrums against Red Springs as they boosted a 12-9 halftime lead to 26-14 going into the fourth quarter.

Felicia Painter grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds for the Pats.

“She’s got such quick hands and great anticipation,” Loutzenheiser said of Joy. “She kind of sees a move even before the girl thinks she is going to make it. She’s a floor leader and gets us in a position to win ballgames.”

Pinecrest will be seeking to repeat as champion of the four-team tournament that begins on Monday with a 6 p.m. game between North Moore and Richmond Senior. The consolation and title games follow on Tuesday.

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

Overhills 12 6 21 8 47

Pinecrest 12 17 11 15 55

Overhills — Elliot 7 7-8 26, Clark 1 0-4 3, Crumpler 4 3-4 11, Canady 3 1-2. Totals 15 11-18 47. Pinecrest — Joy 6 2-4 14, Painter 5 0-0 10, Lynch 2 1-4 5, Collins 3 0-0 7, Williams 6 3-4 15, Smith 0 0-0 0, McKenzie 1 0-0 2, Little 1 0-0 2, Wrencher 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 6-12 55. Three-point goals: (O) 6 (Elliot 5, Clark); (P) 1 (Collins).