Courtney Sauer provided the scoring punch in a third-quarter rally that spurred the Union Pines girls' basketball team to a 64-40 home victory over South Johnston.

The Vikings take a 4-2 mark in the Cape Fear Valley Conference (9-6 overall) into tonight's 6 p.m. league contest at Western Harnett.

The slow-starting Vikes trailed the Trojans 13-7 at the end of the first quarter and led by only 24-22 at halftime. But things changed dramatically after the intermission.

"The second half we started playing like we know how to play," Union Pines coach Henry Douglas said. "We started applying more defensive pressure with our full-court man (defense). We picked up the tempo and got quite a few transition baskets."

Sauer scored nine of her 12 points in the game as the Vikings outscored the Trojans 17-4 in the third period. They out-pointed the visitors 23-14 in the fourth quarter, turning the game into a rout.

Lindsay Wilborn scored a game-high 14 points for the winners. Also in double figures for the Vikings was Carly Shiflett with 10. Brittany Thurlow added nine points and Alishia Mosley and Torianna Baldwin had six each.

Jodi Darden led the visitors with 12 points.

Harnett Central remained atop the conference with a 63-43 victory over Southern Lee to improve to 6-0 (11-2 overall). Triton is in second place at 5-1, while Union Pines and Gray's Creek are tied for third at 4-2.