Ledford raced to a 21-3 first-quarter lead in the Hornets’ home gym, then cruised to a 69-47 decision in a 2A Central Carolina Conference contest. The Panthers improved to 14-1 overall and 3-1 in the league, a half-game behind No. 1 High Point Central.

Salisbury dropped to 2-13, 0-4.

“We got it going there early and then we just barely did well enough to hold it even after that,” Ralls said. “We wanted to come out and play aggressive, be intense. Then we settled back, relaxed. They (the Panthers) thought because we did something different defensively, that signaled it was time to take a break.”

Despite Salisbury losing the final three quarters by a mere 48-44 score, the game was decided in the opening minutes. Turnover after turnover gave Ledford easy shots, including five fastbreak layups.

A combination of the Panthers’ pressure and Salisbury’s troubles handling the ball left the Hornets without a shot — not a made basket, but an attempt — until 3:20 had ticked off the clock. Ledford held a 12-0 lead when Ternisha Charleston hit 1-of-2 free throws with 2:57 to play, and two more free throws from Jen Reilly in the closing seconds accounted for Salisbury’s only other scoring.

When the buzzer finally sounded, the Hornets walked back to their bench having managed just four shot attempts, none of them successful. Sixteen turnovers in the first eight minutes had head coach Jennifer Shoaf wondering just how bad this one was going to get.

“The difference in the game was that we came out flat in the first quarter,” Shoaf said. “After the start we had I thought it’d be a whole lot worse.”

Ledford’s girls looked at their 21-3 advantage and did the same thing any basketball team in the world would — they relaxed a little bit. Salisbury hit some free throws and got its first field goal from Sherree Gillespie at the 4:50 mark to pull within 21-8.

The Panthers struggled with turnovers and missed shots before Pam Oast finally scored a layup halfway through the quarter. Then the offense returned to its normal speed. Lindsay Smith’s picture-perfect 3-pointer made it 30-10 and Ledford went into halftime up 36-15. Only 8-for-11 free-throw shooting by the Hornets, 7-of-9 of those belonging to Gillespie, kept Salisbury in it.

“The second quarter was not that bad,” Shoaf said. “We were making some free throws at least, giving us something to build on.”

Ledford’s hot shooting made it impossible for the Hornets to come back, though. The Panthers made 6-of-8 field goals in the third quarter, with more arcing, no-doubt-about-it 3s from Oast and Smith. A 9-for-15 finish from the field in the fourth quarter left the Panthers at 55 percent (30-for-55) for the game.

“They can shoot. Is there anybody on that team who can’t hit a jumper?” Shoaf asked. “I was really impressed with Lindsay (Smith). She’s one of the premiere players in our league.”

When it came down to it, Shoaf had to admit being impressed with her Hornets as well. Their 16 turnovers in the first quarter fell to 19 over the next three, and after a three-point start, Salisbury scored 16 in both the third and fourth quarters.

Not a win, certainly, but a definite improvement on what could have been a disastrous and embarrassing night.

“Overall I was pleased with the way we didn’t give up and came back and kept it reasonable,” Shoaf said. “We just dug ourselves a big hole.”

LEDFORD (69) — Hinkle 11, Mendenhall 8, Oast 14, Ferrell 6, Robbins, Ralls 4, McCartney 2, Thomas 2, Hinson 2, Smith 14, Stokes 6.

SALISBURY (47) — Atkinson, Chunn 9, Taylor 2, Charleston 4, Bauk, Robinson 1, Gillespie 20, Wingerson, Reilly 11.

Ledford 21 15 14 19 — 69