WALNUT COVE — Mount Airy swept South Stokes in a Northwest 1A/2A matchup Thursday, with the girls running away with a 81-36 win while the boys held off the Sauras, 68-65.

In the girls game, Mount Airy’s press and defensive pressure forced 16 first-half turnovers by South, which in turn allowed the Granite Bears to open up a large early lead.

“We kept them very frustrated offensively,” Mount Airy coach Howard Mayo said.

Four Bears scored in double figures, led by senior Ellie Case with 16 points. Case was followed by Taylor Hiatt with 14, Jordan Hiatt with 12 and Andria Leonard with 10.

Three other players scored seven or more points in the contest for Mount Airy.

Mayo said any coach would be happy with that kind of balance.

“When you have six people with eight points or more it continues to go along with our theme,” Mayo said. “It doesn’t matter who’s scoring as long as we keep scoring and are forcing the tempo with our offense and defense. If they try to take one player out of the game, we have somebody else who we feel confident can score just as well.”

Mount Airy scored three times as many points as South in the first and fourth quarters.

In the boys game, Mount Airy held on to a late fourth-quarter lead to exact revenge for last season’s defeat at the hands of South in the state playoffs.

Wade Moody scored a game-high 23 points with a face guard to protect his nose and put up 15 second-half points to secure the win.

Mount Airy’s Justin Collier, in his first game back following football season, scored 12 points, which included going 8-of-10 from the free throw line.

The game was back and forth during the entire first half, with neither team holding more than a one- or two-point advantage for long.

The Bears’ Andy Miller scored 11 points and, along with Collier, provided Mount Airy an inside presence. Collier had several emphatic blocks in the first half and coach Kevin Spainhour said he and Miller gave Mount Airy a low-post game it hadn’t seen in the first two games of the season.

“He’s (Collier) just such a competitor,” Spainhour said. “He’s so doggone quick he causes problems. It was really nice to have him back and Andy played very well tonight. In the fourth quarter, he got a ton of rebounds and some of that is him being able to get a quick breather.”

Mount Airy was up nine with just more than three minutes remaining in the game, but allowed South Stokes back in it with poor free throw shooting and defensive lapses.

“We just didn’t do a very good job finishing the game,” Spainhour said. “We didn’t make free throws when we needed to and didn’t defend. But with just three practices together as a full team for us to come here and win on the road with an airline flight in the morning and excited about a trip to Florida, to be focused and get it done tonight I am really proud of our guys.”

Cole Greene led South Stokes with 20 points, with Chris Hairston adding 16.

As for the payback for last season’s upset, Spainhour said it was definitely a topic of conversation leading into Thursday night.

“They were our only game this week, and it’s not something we talked about every single day, but I don’t have to remind the guys that were here last year,” Spainhour said. “One of the things that’s special about our program is that we had four guys at the game on last year’s team and all four of them sent me a text or caught me after the game and said ‘Thank you for beating them.’ That tells you it was still on their mind and our guys’ mind and it was something we wanted to do and take care of. It’s ironic it’s the first conference game with all our guys back.”

The Bears have a quick turnaround, as they will leave today at 9:30 a.m. for Miami and the Kruel Classic Holiday Tournament.

Mount Airy will play its first game Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

Girls’ game

Mount Airy 81, South Stokes 36

MA — 19 19 19 24 — 81

SS — 6 13 9 8 — 36

MOUNT AIRY — Ellie Case 16, Jordan Hiatt 12, Taylor Hiatt 14, Andria Leonard 10, Webster 7, Simmons 9, Williams 8, France 2, Jones 2

SS — Mitchell 2, Wood 16, Hampton 10, Joyner 4, Rutledge 2, Jones 2

Boys’ game

Mount Airy 68, South Stokes 65

Mount Airy — Wade Moody 23, Justin Collier 12, Andy Miller 11, Anthony Moore 9, Hamilton 6, Joyce 3, Parries 2, Cawley 2, Gwyn 2

South Stokes — Cole Greene 20, Chris Hairston 16, Nick Adams 11, Price 5, Withers 5, Hogan 3, Wirsh 2, Hazelwood 2