The Chatham Central Bears handed North Moore their first conference loss in convincing fashion Friday night.

Center Sienna Courie scored 26 points to lead the Bears to a 63-44 win. Courie was a huge factor in Bear scoring runs in each of the first three quarters that stifled the Mustangs.

With the score tied 8-all midway through the first quarter, Courie and teammate Jessica Curtis keyed a 12-0 run to help the Bears to a 20-10 lead after the first quarter.

In the spurt Courie scored five and Curtis added seven points.

In the second, the Mustangs responded with eight of the first 11 points of the quarter, and when Shakora Brower hit a jumper with 3:25 remaining the Mustangs trailed 22-18.

Courie and Curtis answered again combining for the next seven points to give the Bears a 29-18 halftime lead.

The Bears salted the game away in the third by outscoring the Mustangs 18-5 over the first six minutes. Courie scored 11 points during the spurt.

The Mustangs struggled to find offense in the flow of the game, partly due to the pressure and quick hands of the Bears defenders who constantly tipped or intercepted passes. Foul trouble also hampered the home team. Point guard Katelyn Sheffield got in foul trouble early, and fouled out of the game with 4:38 to play in the third quarter and her team trailing 35-22.

After Sheffield left, the Bears reeled off 12 consecutive points to push their edge to 49-24 with less than a minute remaining in the quarter.

Trailing 61-36 late, the Mustangs scored eight of the final 10 points of the game.

Brower led the Mustangs with 17 points.

Curtis had 10 points and Abby Phillips added eight for the victors.

The loss drops North Moore to 3-6 overall and 1-1 in the Yadkin Valley Conference.

The team is in Asheboro through Tuesday playing in a holiday tournament. The Mustangs return to YVC play on Jan. 2 when they play at Jordan-Matthews. The next home game is Jan. 9 against West Montgomery.

Contact Tom Embrey at 693-2477 or by e-mail at tembrey@thepilot.com.