Patriot Girls Set Up Battle for First Place

The Pinecrest girls, bolstered by 6-footers Janea Williams (left) and Felicia Painter (right), have won four in a row. Both Williams and Painter are averaging double-doubles for the Patriots, who face Lumberton tonight in a showdown for first place. Photo by Donna Ford

Charlie Bergmann

As of Friday, February 1, 2013

The Pinecrest girls defeated visiting Hoke County 50-22 on Tuesday for their fourth Southeastern Conference victory in a row.

Janea Williams scored a game-high 15 points and Felicia Painter poured in 14 to go with 16 rebounds and four assists. Jasmine Chalmers added eight points and four steals. The Patriot defense that has held three of its last four opponents to 23 points or less limited the Bucks to five field goals.

The Patriots (11-6, 4-1) travel to first-place Lumberton (14-3, 4-0) this evening (Friday) for a 6 p.m. tip-off. The Pirates have defeated the Patriots five times in a row, including a 47-42 comeback win in the conference opener three weeks ago.

“It’s definitely a big game for us,” Patriot coach Janie Hodges said afterward. “We know what’s at stake. They’re a great team. We have to go there with our mind clear and be ready to play.”

Sputtering on offense until the fourth quarter, the Patriots maintained a nice working margin throughout by limiting the Bucks to one field goal in each of the first two periods and two in the third. They took a 25-15 lead into the fourth.

“Defense is our strong suit right now and that’s what is winning games for us,” senior point guard Keegan Lynch said.

Williams, who took only two shots in the first three quarters, was unstoppable inside in the fourth. She accounted for 10 and Painter notched seven of the team’s 25 points in the period.

“Everybody knows they have to play our bigs,” Hodges said of the 6-foot-3 Williams and 6-0 Painter, who both average double-doubles. “When Janea and Felicia are connected we’re hard to beat.”

Hoke 2 5 8 7 — 22

Pinecrest 8 11 6 25 — 50

Hoke: Horne 1 0-1 2, Pate 0 7-9 7, Dixon 0 0-2 0, Smith 1 1-2 3, Key 1 2-4 4, Thompson 1 2-9 4, Peterkin 1 0-3 2. Totals 5 12-30 22.

Pinecrest: Chalmers 3 2-4 8, Painter 4 6-8 14, Lynch 1 0-0 3, Waddell 2 0-0 4, Williams 6 3-5 15, Lawhon 0 0-0 0, Alston 0 0-0 0, Paran 0 0-0 0, Fairley 0 0-0 0, Gaffney 0 0-0 0, Lacy 1 2-2 4, M. Thomas 1 0-0 2, Z. Thomas 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 13-19 50. Three-point goals: H none; P 1 (Lynch).