Thursday, January 10, 2013 — The high school basketball season got back to full throttle this week as the teams of the Yadkin Valley Conference from Stanly County had games on Tuesday night.

Gray Stone hosted Albemarle while South Stanly played host to North Rowan.

Boys

Albemarle 93

Gray Stone 26

The beat goes on for the Albemarle boys’ basketball team as the intense pressure of the Bulldogs’ full-court press helped the ‘Dogs dominate in the first half in a 93-26 road win at Gray Stone Day.

T’Kyle Williams led four in double figures for Albemarle (9-1, 5-1 YVC) with 22 points. Deon Christian and Terrace Ellis had 13 points each while Lee Autry scored 11 points and had a team-high seven rebounds.

Alex Wang led the Knights (0-12, 0-7) with five points.

A large chunk of Albemarle’s offense came off of the full-court pressure used by the Bulldogs in the first half. Albemarle had 16 steals total in the game and scored the first 26 points of the game, finishing the first quarter with a 31-2 lead.

Albemarle subbed in five players at a time several times in the first half, going deep into the bench and pushing out to a 58-11 lead at halftime.

The win for Albemarle was the team’s ninth in a row after losing the season opener against North Rowan in a game originally scheduled to be in Spencer. The two teams will play at North Rowan on Jan. 18, but the Bulldogs have one more road trip before that game. This Friday, the Bulldogs look to keep their streak alive against Chatham Central (3-8, 2-4) who beat South  Davidson at home Tuesday night 60-29.

A    31    27    20    15    93

GS    2    9    3    12    26

A –  T’Kyle Williams 22, Deon Christian 13, Terrace Ellis 13, Lee Autry 11, Baldwin 9, Currie 8, Ridenhour 8, Blanton 5, Crowder 2, Nivens 2.

GS – Latimer 4, Wang 5, Lentz 3, R. Huckabee 2, Shell 2, Mansfield 2, W. Huckabee 2, Singletary 3, Sam HillJennings 3.

North Rowan 103

South Stanly 51

The South Stanly Rebel Bulls hosted the North Rowan Cavaliers on Tuesday night in the final Yadkin Valley Conference game for the Cavs this season at South as North Rowan leaves the Yadkin Valley Conference next season.

Oshon West and Malik Ford led the Cavaliers (11-3, 7-0) with 25 and 24 points, respectively in the win for North over the Rebel Bulls.

Michard Richardson led South (4-8, 3-3 YVC) with 13 points.

The Bulls travel to South Davidson on Friday night.

NR    29    24    21    29    103

SS    5    22    14    10    51    

SD –  Oshon West 25, Malik Ford 24, Shareef Walker 11, Handy 9, Bowman 9, Sanders 8, Nelson 7, Bates 6, Ellis 4.

GS – Michard Richardson 13, Granados 9, T. Smith 8, W. Smith 7, Johnson 6, Burris 5, Harris 2, Craig 1.



Girls’

Albemarle 45

Gray Stone 34

The Albemarle girls’ basketball squad have reversed their earlier trend this season by winning three in a row including a 45-34 road win Tuesday at Gray Stone.

Akela Branch just missed another double-double this season for Albemarle (3-8, 2-5 YVC), finishing with 22 points and nine rebounds.

Kendall Taylor led the Knights (4-8, 1-6) with 10 points.

Both teams struggled to score in the game, with the Bulldogs shooting 15-of-53 overall (28 percent).

Free-throw shooting was a struggle as well for both squads. Albemarle was 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) at the foul line while Gray Stone shot 5-of-14 (35.7 percent).

In the first half, neither team was able to score consistently as the Knights hit just three shots from the field while Albemarle connected six times.

The Bulldogs opened the game scoring the first seven points, but the Knights cut the lead twice in the first half to three points.

Albemarle scored the final six points of the third quarter to lead 28-19 and led by 11 points two minutes into the fourth period. Gray Stone got as close as four points midway through the fourth, but the Bulldogs pushed the final margin back to double digits.

The Bulldogs travel to Chatham Central (4-8, 3-3) on Friday night while Gray Stone goes to North Moore (8-5, 3-3).

A    8    9    11    17    45

GS    4    6    9    10    34

A –  Akela Branch 22, Currie 8, Barrino 5, McLendon 4, Hudson 4, Hall 2.

GS – Harward 4, Deese 6, Kendall Taylor 10, Ansbro 8, Redman 3, Giles 1, Sullivan 2.

North Rowan 54

South Stanly 39

The South Stanly Rebel Bulls girls’ basketball team took to their home floor on Tuesday night against a North Rowan squad that was among the top teams in the Yadkin Valley Conference standings.

South played the Cavaliers tough, leading at halftime, but a third-quarter run helped the visitors earn a 54-39 win over the Bulls.

Ashlyn Whitley led South (2-10, 1-5 YVC) with 11 points.

Against South’s 2-1-2 zone, North Rowan (6-5, 5-1) struggled early to make shots from the outside, hitting just one three-pointer in the first half.

The Bulls rebounded well and penetrated North’s man-to-man defense well in the first half, according to South head coach Larry Honeycutt.

North went on a 14-point run in the third and started hitting from the outside, outscoring South 26-7 in the third.

South Stanly travels to South Davidson (10-2, 7-0) on Friday night.

NR    6    7    26    15    54

SS    9    14    7    9    39

SS –  Ashlyn Whitley 11, Culp 7, S. Russell 7, C. Russell 6, Nance 4, Benjamin 2, Smith 2.