For three quarters of Monday’s basketball game between the Pinecrest and East Montgomery girls, it looked like it might be a big night for the 1A Yadkin Valley Conference.

The momentum was clearly on the side of the underdog Eagles in the second of two Lady Patriot Holiday Invitational first round games at James Moore Gym. Led by Brandy Rush, they held a 37-33 lead in the opening minute of the final period against the 4A Patriots.

“We pretty much shut them down until the fourth quarter,” Eagles’ coach Dianne White said afterward. “The girls were playing great defense and the shots were falling.”

Upping the tempo at both ends of the floor, Pinecrest turned the game around with an 18-1 burst. Jennie Joy scored nine of her game-high 19 points in the final six minutes of the 53-40 victory.

In a renewal of last year’s championship game, the Patriots (8-1) were scheduled to defend their title on Tuesday against Southeastern Conference rival Richmond Senior (7-2). The Raiders won their seventh game in a row, defeating North Moore 41-31 in the other first round game. That put the Mustangs (4-2) and Eagles (1-5) in an All-Yadkin Valley consolation tilt.

North Moore remained on the heels of Richmond until about the last two minutes of the first half. The Mustangs trailed 15-13 after a three by Tashonna Farmer. But Demi Watkins countered with a three for the Raiders, starting a 7-0 run that gave them a 22-13 halftime lead.

The Raiders upped the margin to 20 points in the fourth quarter before Shakorya Brower led a closing 10-0 Mustang run. She finished with a double-double that included 14 points and 12 rebounds. Watkins led the winners with 11 points.

Going into the final quarter of the second game, Pinecrest had given no indication it was ready to match the intensity of East Montgomery.

“In the second and third quarter, I don’t know what we were thinking,” the Patriots’ Felicia Painter said. “We knew they had some good shooters and we let them shoot and we let them drive. In the fourth quarter, I guess we knew we had to pick it up.”

After Delana Hinson beat the Pats to a rebound for the basket that put the Eagles in front 37-33, Shaniqua Collins drove for two, starting the 18-1 Patriot run. Second chance baskets by Joy and Janea Williams, and then a jumper by Painter, gave the suddenly aroused Pats a 41-37 lead.

The home team finished it off by going 8-for-11 from the charity stripe. Painter had a big game in the paint, finishing with nine points and 15 rebounds. Collins contributed 11 points. Rush led the Eagles with 17 points and 10 boards.

Pinecrest coach Mike Loutzenheiser thought his team reversed the momentum by pressing and picking up the tempo on offense in the fourth period. He came away not quite sure how to eliminate the periods of inconsistency that have marked an overall successful first nine games.

“I’m a little bit stumped, honestly, he said. “This seems to be the M.O. of our team. East Montgomery played incredibly hard and that kept them in the game.”

Contact Charlie Berg-mann at cbergmann@nc.rr. com.

North Moore 4 9 8 10 31

Richmond 7 15 10 9 41

NM — K. Sheffield 0 0-0 0, Green 0 0-0 0, Brower 6 2-4 14, Lowe 0 0-0 0, Farmer 2 2-2 8, Williams 0 0-0 0, Garner 0 0-0 0, J. Sheffield 3 0-1 8, McNeill 0 0-0 0, Giles 0 0-0 0, Horne 0 1-2 1. Totals 11 5-9 31. RS — Bloomfield 2 2-6 6, Watkins 5 0-0 11, McLaughlin 2 0-6 4, Ellerbe 3 1-2 8, B. Covington 0 0-0 0, Evans 1 0-0 2, Diggs 3 0-0 6, Brewington 1 0-2 2, Harris 0 0-0 0, Galbreath 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 3-16 41. Three-point goals: (NM) 4 (Farmer 2, J. Sheffield 2); (RS) 2 (Watkins, Ellerbe).

East Montgomery 13 8 14 5 40

Pinecrest 10 11 12 20 53

EM — Rush 4 9-11 17, Smith 1 2-2 4, Hinson 3 0-0 7, B. Hassell 1 0-0 2, Criscoe 1 3-3 6, Dominique 2 0-3 4, Watts 0 0-0 0, M. Hassell 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 14-19 40. PC — Joy 6 7-10 19, Painter 4 1-2 9, Lynch 1 0-0 3, Collins 4 2-2 11, Williams 3 0-2 6, Smith 1 1-2 3, McKenzie 0 2-4 2, Little 0 0-0 0, Wrencher 0 0-0 0, Peyton 0 0-0 0, Alston 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 13-22 53. Three-point goals: (EM) 2 (Hinson, Crisco); (PC) 2 (Lynch, Collins).