The Pinecrest boys could have probably defeated winless Red Springs without their best effort Tuesday evening, but this was the time for a peak performance in the mind of Patriot coach Andrew Lacey.

“We’ve been talking all week that we’re treating tonight like district play,” he said, using the vernacular for conference acquired during his years coaching in Virginia. “We came out like Red Springs was a district opponent. We got a lot of confidence going into district play with a win.”

The Patriots (5-9) were led by Traivon Williams with 18 points and nine rebounds in the 62-40 road victory over the Red Devils (0-11). The senior forward went eight-for- eight from the free throw line. Next is a 7:30 p.m. date tonight at Lumberton (8-5) in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

Coming off losses in the final two games of the Holiday in the Pines tournament, the Patriot players responded with plenty of energy in an opening 9-2 run. The last five points came on a three-point play by Brendan Ortiz in transition, and then a steal and a bucket by the sophomore.

Williams and Frankie Painter each scored six points in the second period as the Pats stretched their lead to 33-18 at halftime. The closest the hustling home team got after that was 14 points.

“We have some things we have to work on, like 23 turnovers, but a lot of that was from unselfishness,” Lacey said. “Needless to say we got on the glass, we got layups, and we got some defensive stops. All those things are positive going into Friday.”

Adam Cummings was the only other double-figure scorer for the Patriots with 11 points. Painter and Ortiz added nine each. A strong all-around effort by Greg Barnes included six points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Kardashian Ragin chipped in with four assists for the Pats. Quinn Lowery led the home team with 13 points.

Shades of the football season, two of the SEC teams are ranked in the top 10 of this week’s 4-A NCPreps media poll. Richmond Senior (10-0) is in a three-way tie for sixth place. Hoke County (9-1) is ranked ninth. Right now the two-time defending champion Patriots have a one-track mind, Lumberton.

“I don’t want to start looking down the road and bypass somebody,” Lacey said. “Lumberton is huge. We’re going to put everything we’ve got into the game we play. However that falls out, we’re going to get ready for the next one.”

Pinecrest 13 20 13 16 — 62

Red Springs 4 14 10 12 — 40

Pinecrest: Martin 0 0-0 0, Barnes 3 0-0 6, Ortiz 4 1-1 9, Cummings 4 2-2 11, Williams 5 8-8 18, Ray 2 0-0 4, Painter 4 1-1 9, Brower 0 0-1 0, McCrimmon 0 0-0 0, Ragin 1 0-0 2, Fields 1 0-0 2, McGriff 0 1-2 1. Totals 24 13-15 62.

Red Springs: McLaurin 1 0-0 2, Leach 0 0-2 0, Locklear 1 1-2 1, McLean 0 2-5 2, Brown 5 0-1 11, Leggett 0 1-2 1, Jones 2 0-0 4, Lowery 6 1-3 13, Chavis 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 5-15 40.

Three-point goals: (P) 1 (Cummings); (R) 1 (Brown).