Before losing a pair at the Holiday in the Pines Tournament over Christmas break, Pinecrest had rolled off 10 straight wins.

Tuesday night, they showed why they’re one of the top-ranked teams in 4-A, at the expense of the Scots.

The Patriots poured in 27 first quarter points and never looked back on their way to a 70-56 win over Scotland.

“We just weren’t ready to play mentally,” said Scots coach Mike Ritchie. “We weren’t responding in transition defense, not blocking out, not knowing where we’re suppose to be on offense, not knowing who were guarding and missing easy shots. Pinecrest is a great team and they just dominated us.”

The Scots came out of the gates on fire, starting out the game on a 6-2 run in the first two minutes.

After a 3-pointer from Pinecrest’s James Baldwin made it 6-5 Patriots with 5:45 remaining in the first, they went on a commanding 13-1 run over the next three minutes and went up 13 (19-6) following a potential three-point play from Harron Carson. He would miss the free throw after.

Also during this time, Scotland (7-7, 1-1 SEC) went on a near three-minute field goal drought before a lay-up from Brad McMillan ended the futility.

The Patriots would follow up that big run a little 8-2 run to end the quarter as they led by 15 (27-12) after the first eight minutes of play.

“We knew that Scotland was a hard-nosed team coming in, and know that it’s tough playing here but we were fortunate enough to come out of here with a win,” Pinecrest coach Mike Apple said.

The Scots would outscore Pinecrest (13-2, 2-0 SEC), 12-9 in the second, thanks in part to 10 points from Mo Covington, but still themselves down 12 (36-24) at the half.

The senior guard led both teams with a game-high 23 points.

A slam dunk from the Patriots Daquan Towns sparked a 6-2 run before Scotland went on a 7-2 run of their own and cut the lead to 11 (55-44) on a buzzer-beating three from Covington.

Dominique Clark cut the Patriots lead to single digits (55-46) for the first time since late in the first on a basket, but that be as close as they got as a 9-2 Pinecrest run put an end to the Scots five-game winning streak.

Besides Covington, McMillan and Lamont Browne chipped in eight while Clark finished with seven before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Faronte Drakeford led the ninth-ranked Patriots with 22 points while Cedrick Threadgill and Towns complimented him in double figures with 16 and 12 respectively.