The Ledford boys basketball team pulled away for a 79-65 win on the Hornets’ home court behind the fantastic shooting Salisbury has come to expect from its 2A Central Carolina Conference rival. The Panthers turned a one-point halftime lead into a 14-point win on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor in the fourth quarter.

After hitting seven of their first eight shots in the closing quarter, the Panthers finished 25-for-46 for the game, 53 percent.

“It was kind of frustrating, but we knew coming into the game that they’re always a good shooting team,” Salisbury senior forward Terry Johnson said. “We just didn’t get a hand up in their face.”

The Hornets (6-10 overall, 2-2 CCC) trailed 37-36 at halftime but scored the first four points of the third quarter on pretty layins by Thad Pryor to forge ahead. Ledford’s Sam Cecil then hit two jumpers to spark a 6-1 run to close the quarter and put the Panthers (6-8, 2-2) back in front at 51-45.

That run stretched to 10-2 as Brentley Kellum nailed two jump shots to start the fourth, while the Hornets missed a breakaway layup and the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity from the free-throw line. Once the outside game got going, the Panthers cut to the basket for two easy layups, Stan Smith knocked home a jump shot and Chase Adams converted a steal into a layup for a 63-50 lead with five minutes remaining.

“We get good looks when we move the ball,” Ledford head coach Gil Maxwell said. “When they caught up with us was when we got in a stand-and-watch mode.”

Stunned by the sudden outburst, Salisbury still managed a comeback bid and cut the lead to nine points on Johnson’s 3-pointer with 1:30 left to play. But as good as Ledford was from the field, it was better from the free-throw line. Kellum hit 10-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter alone to end with a game-high 25 points.

“They found the right guys to shoot them,” Maxwell said of his players on the floor in the closing minutes. “They make them in practice and have made them before in pressure situations.”

With Ledford shooting the lights out, Salisbury scrambled to hit 28-for-70, a respectable 40 percent. But Hornets head coach Drew Mathews saw something missing besides shots.

“They (Ledford) played with a passion and a will to win,” Mathews said. “We’ve got to assert ourselves in the first half and finish it off in the second half. We’ve got to come out and attack people and stop people and go out and be aggressive on offense. Tonight we didn’t do either one.”

The Hornets trailed 21-15 after one frenzied quarter. Six Salisbury turnovers led to six Panther fastbreak points, but the Hornets hit 7-of-14 shots to stay close.

Better Salisbury defense in the second quarter forced eight Ledford turnovers and turned an eight-point deficit into a 28-28 tie on Johnson’s layup in the post.

Smith answered with a pullup 3, but Hornet Ken Drye hit a jumper, got a steal and layup and a rebound basket to pull the Hornets within a point at the half.

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NOTES: Pryor led the Hornets with 21 points and rounded off an active night with 14 rebounds and four blocks. … Ledford’s Cecil, after seemingly grabbing every rebound in the fourth quarter, finished with 15. … Salisbury committed 23 turnovers to Ledford’s 27.

LEDFORD (79) — Bivians, Smith 13, Adams 21, Coleman, Cecil 11, Hall 5, Davis 4, Kellum 25.

SALISBURY (65) — Jones 5, B. Blount 3, M. Blount, T. Johnson 18, Drye 13, J. Johnson 5, Knauf, Pryor 21, Daugherty, Blanton, Speigner.

Ledford 21 16 14 28 — 79