It was an early-season showdown between two basketball teams expected to contend for the Yadkin Valley Conference girls’ basketball regular-season championship Tuesday when defending league crown holder South Davidson entertained North Moore.

In the battle for an early foot up in the conference title chase, the fans got their money’s worth in the fast-paced contest that the Lady Wildcats won by an 88-76 score.

“We had our chances near the end of the game,” said North Moore coach Sammy McNeill. “We’re down nine points and get them to turn the ball over on four straight possessions and we failed to score. We score on those four possessions, it’s a one-point game. I was disappointed we didn’t handle the situation better.

“We scored 76 points and still lost. You have to give South Davidson credit, they played well.”

After South Davidson scored on its first possession of the fourth quarter, the Wildcats had their biggest lead of the game at 70-54.

The Lady Mustangs responded with a 17-6 run, fueled by their inside players, Tiosha McCaskill and Tyisha Horn, trimming the lead to nine points with 3:39 left in the contest. The Mustangs created four straight Wildcat turnovers, but couldn’t convert on the other end. The Wildcats went on to close out the game, outscoring North Moore 12-9 for the 12-point victory.

The North Moore loss drops the Mustangs to 1-2 in the conference and 4-3 overall, while the Wildcats remain undefeated with a 3-0 league mark and 4-0 overall.

The Mustangs must have been still smarting from their last-second loss at North Rowan Friday and let the Wildcats get off to a fast start as they scored the game’s first nine points. Wildcat senior point guard Larsen Sigmon scored five of those early points.

The Mustangs countered with a run of their own, posting 11 points to the Wildcats’ two points, tying the game at 11. With the game tied 15-15 with 2:05 left in the first period, the host team closed out on a 6-0 run for a 21-15 lead going into the second period.

The opening of the second quarter saw the two teams swap buckets, and then South Davidson went on another run, scoring eight straight points while holding North Moore scoreless for a 31-17 lead. The 14-point Wildcat lead prompted McNeill to call a timeout to settle his team down.

The two teams continued to swap buckets and with 3:21 left in the half, the Wildcats held a 40-27 lead.

Then North Moore’s Jalisa Davis went to work, scoring 19 of her 24 first-half points during the second quarter. The Mustangs cut the Wildcats’ lead to 48-41 at the break. While Davis had 24 points for the Mustangs, the Wildcats’ Sigmon had 16 first-half points.

Davis opened the second half with a driving bucket and then the Wildcats missed five-of-six foul shots, leaving the door open for a Davis basket to cut the lead to 49-45, the closest the Mustangs would come the rest of the contest.

Then Sigmon and her sister Madison got on track, pushing the lead back to 59-47 with 2:52 left in the third frame. Mustang senior Jessie Sheffield connected from the corner on one of her four three-pointers, cutting the lead to single digits.

The Wildcats closed out the quarter on a 9-4 run for a 68-54 lead going into the final period.

After the failed Mustang comeback midway through the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were able to ice the game, hitting on 11-of-18 free throws for the victory. The Wildcats finished the game connecting on 21-of-36 foul shots while the Mustangs attempted only 19 shots and converted 14.

Davis led the Mustangs with 32 points, boosting her average to more than 27 points per game. Davis was followed in the scoring column by Sheffield with a season-high 17 points. McCaskill added 12 points, Heather Dunmyer six, Horn six, and Mone’ Little three.

Larsen Sigmon paced the Wildcats with 32 points, followed by Maddie Beeson with 18 points, Madison Sigmon 14, Holly Wall 11, Hunter Sigmon 11, and Addie Grubb two.

The Mustangs try to get back on the winning track when they host Albemarle Friday and entertain West Montgomery Tuesday.

The girls’ games are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. followed by the boys’ contests.

North Moore 15 26 13 22 — 76

S. Davidson 21 27 20 20 — 88

North Moore: Davis 12 4-4 32; Sheffield 5 3-3 17; McCaskill 3 6-8 12; Dunmyer 3 0-2 6; Horn 3 0-0 6; Little 1 1-2 3. Totals - 27 14-19.

South Davidson: L. Sigmon 10 11-19 32; Beeson 7 4-8 18; M.Sigmon 7 0-0 14; H. Sigmon 4 3-5 11; Wall 5 1-2 11; Grubb 0 2-2 2. Totals - 31 21-36 88.

Three-point goals: NM 8 (Davis 4, Sheffield 4); SD 1 (L. Sigmon).