After seeing an early lead shrink to four by the end of the first period, Gray Stone’s Knights put together a 19-2 run over the first five minutes of the second and never looked back on the way to a 62-35 Yadkin Valley Conference win Friday at South Stanly.

With the victory, Gray Stone (14-4 overall, 9-2 YVC) remains two games back of league-leading Albemarle in the conference standings. South Stanly falls to 7-12 overall (4-7 in league play) and sits in sole possession of sixth place.

After the Knights’ starters blew to an 8-0 lead in the first four minutes, South scored six of the period’s next eight points (four by freshman guard Kalea Legrande) to trail by only 10-6 at the end of the first quarter.

But the late Bulls rally seemed to serve as a wake-up call to the visitors, who over the next five minutes of play capitalized on five South turnovers to push the lead to 29-8 by the 3-minute mark and 33-12 by halftime. Danielle Werts (7 points) and Seccora Medley (6) led the 23-point Knights outburst.

Second half play opened on the same note as the first, with Gray Stone scoring the first five points before a Jacy Noble 3-pointer broke the third quarter ice for the Bulls. And although the remainder of the half saw a much more competitive effort by the Bulls, the damage inflicted over the first 16 minutes of play proved to be insurmountable.

Increased defensive intensity by South forced 11 Knights turnovers during the second half, but torrid Gray Stone shooting (including a 6-of-9 barrage from behind the arc) more than offset the offensive miscues.

“I thought our ball movement tonight was really good,” said winning coach Robert Stack afterward. “And the offensive execution of our starters in particular was the difference in the game.”

Stack was also complimentary of his team’s defensive effort.

“We played tough defense for long periods tonight,” he said, “which led to points.”

Medley and Werts had 16 and 14 points respectively to lead the Gray Stone attack. Noble was top scorer and only player in double figures for South, tallying 14.

Gray Stone will travel to Denton on Tuesday for a conference match-up with South Davidson. South Stanly is also on the road, visiting Uwharrie Charter in Asheboro.

GRAY STONE DAY 10 23 17 12 — 62
SOUTH STANLY 6 6 12 11 — 35

GS (62) Seccora Medley 16, Danielle Werts 14, Austin 8, Webster 8, Ray 5, Robinson 4, Payne 3, Allsbrook 2, Straining 2
SS (35) Jacy Noble 14, Lee 6, Legrande 4, Rummage 3, Crisco 2, Harris 2, Hinson 2, Shankle 2