SOUTHERN PINES - Senior guard Talena Faison scored 30 points, including 16 in the final quarter, for the Whiteville Lady Wolfpack Thursday in a 65-56 victory over the host Pinecrest Lady Patriots in the opening round of the Pinecrest Holiday Basketball Tournament.

Junior forward Paige McCallum tallied 22 points, with 14 coming in the first half, for Coach Dudley Revels’ WHS squad.

The Lady Wolfpack record now stands at 8-1 as it was coming off its first regular-season loss in two years. On Tuesday, Whiteville suffered a 69-60 homecourt loss to East Bladen after having beaten the East Bladen squad the previous Thursday at Elizabethtown.

The win put the Whiteville squad into Friday night’s championship game against Union Pines. Union Pines advanced with a 50-37 victory over Richmond County.

Due to early holiday deadlines, the Whiteville-Union Pines result is not included in today’s issue. It will run in the Thursday, Dec. 28 issue.

The 4A Pinecrest held a 33-28 halftime lead, but Whiteville gained the upper hand in the third quarter when it outscored the Lady Patriots 17-8. Faison took over in the fourth quarter for Whiteville, scoring 16 of her team’s 20 points in the period.

Whiteville stepped up its defense in the second half and forced 28 Pinecrest turnovers during the game.

The 4A Pinecrest squad was led by Portia Brown with 16 points and Tonya Cain with 13. Hanna Humphrey had nine points for the host squad. The loss dropped the Pinecrest record to 5-7

The WHS girls team is out to claim its third consecutive Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference championship.

Last season, under Coach Keith Jordan, the Lady Wolfpack advanced to the Eastern N.C. 2A Regional finals where it lost to eventual state champion Farmville Central in overtime and finished with a 25-1 record.

WHITEVILLE (65): Gore 5, Faison 30, McCallum 22, Manning 2, Baldwin 6.

PINECREST (56): Smith 4, Brown 16, Humphrey 9, Withers 4, Brooker 2, Cain 13, McDonald 2, Saunders 2, Stroman 4.