Kinston's Lesley Sutton sets up the offense in Friday's game against Leesville Road. Photo by William “Bud” Hardy / Neuse News

RALEIGH | Leesville Road as able to break open a close game in the second quarter and never looked back.

The Pride defeated Kinston 52-30 Friday in the seventh-place game of The John Wall Invitational. The game started with four ties and a pair of lead changes before Leesville Road took over.

"It took some time for us to play our game, but we made some adjustments in the second quarter and did a great job executing," Leesville Road coach Don Proehl said.

Kinston took an 11-10 advantage early in the second quarter in a Quiaira Powell 3-pointer, but Leesville Road responded with a 16-3 run to end the frame. Coming out of the halftime break, the Pride maintained their double-digit advantage, going up 46-24 on a steal and layup at the buzzer to end the third.

"Coach called a timeout in the huddle and told us we needed to play better," Brittany Staves said. "It started on defense and when we rebound, we have girls who can get up the court to start our offense."

The Pride led by as many as 26 in the second half.

"We played some really tough and aggressive teams in this tournament and it helped us with doing the same and building up our confidence," Lucy Leen said. "We definitely learned a lot from this experience."

Kinston coach Christopher Bradshaw said having the experience of the Invitational will be beneficial in the long run.

"We played three of the best teams in North Carolina with Heritage, Leesville Road and Jacksonville, three teams who can compete for a state championship in their classifications," Bradshaw said. "We've gotten valuable experience and when we get back down to our (classification) we won't see teams like this."

For Leesville Road, Staves had 18 points and five rebounds. For Kinston, Taliyah Jones had 12 points and five rebounds.