Kicking off its Yadkin Valley Conference slate of games, the South Stanly boys’ basketball team picked up a 58-44 road win over Albemarle on Friday night.
The Bulls (11-2, 1-0 YVC) held a 17-16 lead in a low-scoring first half before exploding for 41-point second half and an eventual 14-point victory over the winless Bulldogs (0-11, 0-1 YVC).
Bouncing back from a 45-39 home loss to Southwestern Randolph (3-11, 1-2 Piedmont) — just South’s second loss of the year — the Bulls are now tied with North Stanly (11-3, 1-0 YVC) for a county-best 11 wins this season. Meanwhile, Albemarle has been outscored by a margin of 818-538 in 11 consecutive losses this year.
The Bulls will now host North Stanly in a YVC showdown on Friday, while the Bulldogs hit the road to Union Academy (2-11, 1-0 YVC) on Tuesday and Mount Pleasant (5-8, 1-0 YVC) on Friday.
North Stanly 87, Union Academy 68
Like South Stanly, the North Stanly Comets also began their conference stretch of games with a win, notching a 87-68 home victory over the Union Academy Cardinals on Friday.
North’s 87-point mark is the team’s second-highest scoring output of the year, only trailing a 93-point night against Anson (8-5, 1-1 Rocky River Conference) on Dec. 5. Just two games earlier, the Comets defeated the Cardinals by a closer score of 70-67.
North is set to head to Norwood to face the Bulls on Friday as the two 11-win teams try to stake their claim as the top team in both the county and the conference.
Parkwood 73, West Stanly 67
In West Stanly’s second RRC game of the season Friday night, the Colts (7-6, 1-1 RRC) snapped a three-game win streak as they lost on the road by six points to the Parkwood Wolf Pack (7-6, 2-0 RRC).
The Colts had previously knocked off Central Academy 94-52 in their conference opener.
West will look to get back on track with games against Monroe (2-2, 0-1 RRC) on Tuesday and Forest Hills (7-5, 0-1 RRC) on Friday.
Mount Pleasant 66, Gray Stone 24
The Gray Stone Knights (0-8, 0-1 YVC) fell short in their YVC opener as they lost at home to Mount Pleasant Tigers (5-8, 1-0 YVC) in a 66-24 final on Friday.
Gray Stone was held to under seven points in three out of four quarters, failing to keep up with a Tiger offense that outscored the Knights 23-2 in the third quarter.
The Knights are set to host Union Academy on Friday after traveling to New London to play the Comets on Tuesday.