Despite a career night from sophomore forward Shakorya Brower, North Moore was beaten 52-43 by Chatham Central Friday in the championship game of the Yadkin Valley 1A Conference girls' basketball tournament.

With the win, the top-seeded Lady Bears (21-4) backed up their regular season title with the tournament championship. They were led by 18 points from center Sienna Courie and 13 from guard Elizabeth Little, with seven coming in the fourth quarter.

Brower scored 28 points for the second-seeded Lady Mustangs (18-6) and added eight rebounds, four steals and three assists before fouling out with 31 seconds remaining.

Playing without second leading scorer Jalisa Davis, North Moore was within 27-26 with 3:05 remaining in the third quarter, but Chatham Central ended the period on a 9-2 run before opening the fourth quarter with a pair of three-pointers sandwiched around a Brower deuce to take a 42-30 lead.

The Lady Mustangs never got closer than an eight-point deficit after that.

"Offensively, we had a lot of opportunities," said North Moore head coach Sammy McNeill. "Defensively, that's as good as we've played all year."

Chatham Central led 15-6 at the end of the first quarter before being outscored 13-4 in the second period.

North Moore, which out-rebounded the Lady Bears 29-21, took its first lead at 18-17 on a Lauren Green putback with 1:22 remaining in the first half.

The Lady Mustangs added a Hillary Walters free throw to the margin before a Courie basket with six seconds remaining before halftime knotted the score at 19-all at the break.

North Moore will host East Surry in the first round of the Class 1A state tournament Monday at 7 p.m.