A 34-point explosion by Janea Williams led the Pinecrest girls to a 57-47 upset win over Scotland High at James Moore Gym Thursday evening.

“Janea was a ‘beast,’” teammate Brianna Alston said of the 6-foot-3 forward who is committed to play at the University of North Florida next season. “She went out there and played from start to finish and that’s what you need.”

Williams was 14-for-23 from the field. She also grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked three shots. Alston came off the bench to score all eight of her points in the fourth period as the Patriots came from behind to win going away.

Coach Janie Hodges squad improved to 9-6 overall and 2-1 in the Southeastern Conference. The defending league champion Scots dropped to 11-3 and 2-1.

The Patriots had more turnovers (22) than points in a first half that ended with the Scots on top 22-20. Williams scored 18 of the Patriot points with an assortment of drives, short jumpers and putbacks. She added 10 more in the third period that ended with the Scots still in front 38-34.

“During practice we worked on the guards throwing the ball up to the rim so Felicia (Painter) and I could go up and get it — because we’re the tallest two players in the conference,” Williams said.

Sophomore guard Jasmine Chalmers, who scored all seven of her points in the final eight minutes, sank a pair of free throws to start the quarter. The Pats took the lead at 39-38 on a second-chance basket by Painter.

Chalmers assisted on a basket by Alston before scoring twice in transition herself to up the Patriot lead to 48-40 with 3:18 remaining. With under a minute left, Alston and Williams each grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for layups to wrap things up in style.

Williams blocked two shots down the stretch that also helped seal the deal. She played all but about 30 seconds of the game in the best performance of her four-year varsity career.

“Coach said push through it, push through it when you’re tired and that’s what we did tonight,” she said. “We had to win this game because we want to finish first in the conference. We know we have to play hard from start to finish against tough teams like Scotland. That’s how you win basketball games.”

Two weeks ago, Alston took it hard after missing four free throws in the fourth period of a close loss to first place Lumberton.

“I wanted to win because the Lumberton game really hurt me,” she said. “This feels good. It feels really good.”

The win likely also helped relieve some lingering feelings about the tough Lumberton experience for Hodges.

“We actually finished tonight,” she said. “We knew we would have to play for four quarters and they arose to the occasion.

“Janea stepped up and played to her potential. She’s a college recruit and she showed why tonight. Jasmine moved the ball well and Brianna came off the bench and gave us a spark.”

Painter grabbed 11 rebounds, and point guard Keegan Lynch squeezed her way through taller people for nine, as the Patriots enjoyed a big advantage in that department.

Friday’s game at Richmond Senior was postponed from Friday until Monday at 6 p.m. because of weather concerns. The current SEC standings are: Lumberton 3-0, Pinecrest, Scotland and Richmond 2-1, Hoke County and Purnell Swett 0-3.

Scotland 10 12 16 9 — 47

Pinecrest 8 12 14 23 — 57

Scotland: A. Ratcliff 5 2-6 12, Johnson 7 0-0 16, DeBerry 0 1-2 1, Chisholm 5 1-1 14, Campbell 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 4-9 47.

Pinecrest: Chalmers 2 3-5 7, Waddell 1 0-0 2, Painter 3 0-0 6, Lynch 0 0-0 0, Williams 14 6-8 34, Braswell 0 0-1 0, M. Thomas 0 0-0 0, Alston 4 0-1 8, Fairley 0 0-0 0, Gaffney 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 9-15 57.

Three-point goals: S 5 (Chisholm 3, Johnson 2); P None.