South Warren and Allen County-Scottsville are always two of the top teams in Region 4 and whenever the two sides meet, it’s bound to be an evenly-matched high school basketball game.
That wasn’t the case on Tuesday evening, as the Spartans (1-0) played nearly perfect from tipoff to the final buzzer and rolled to a 73-45 win over the Lady Patriots (0-1). In their ninth all-time meeting, South Warren’s victory helped cut Allen County’s series lead to 7-2.
“It was sort of a ‘dream start,’” South Warren head coach Blane Embry said. “When you’re shooting the ball well, it makes everything else look good. We’re spreading it out this year – and the kids like playing that way. We’re trying to get a little more ball movement and spread it out from side to side.”
South Warren led 23-3 after the opening quarter and then 42-18 at halftime. A 31-point second half helped it keep the Lady Patriots from ever getting into it.
Natalie Pierce and Amaya Lasley each led the Spartans with 17 points on the night while Sarah Dennison scored 15 and Peyton Ferry finished with 14. South Warren forced 15 turnovers and only committed five of its own.
“It was really good,” Pierce said of her team’s win. “I think we really enjoyed ourselves. (Our big start) was really – I think that really pushed us along the rest of the game. I think we’ll figure out how good of a team we really are and where we stand in the state and in the region.”
South Warren came out of the gate and quickly went to work.
After Sarah Sutton made a free throw for Allen County-Scottsville to record the game’s first basket, the Spartans caught fire. Down 1-0, South Warren went on a 23-0 run to take a 23-1 lead with just under a minute remaining in the first quarter.
A pair of free throws for Sutton with 20 seconds left in the period snapped the Spartans’ run, but the home club still held a 20-point advantage after its first quarter of the season.
“I don’t think we dribbled the ball nearly as much tonight, which I like, and when we did dribble we dribbled with a purpose,” said Embry. “It’s fun to watch kids share the ball and pass it on to the next person. I liked the looks in our eyes – we catch it in rhythm and don’t force threes.”
The ensuing quarter played out to be more evenly matched but South was still in total control. Pierce began the second with back-to-back three pointers and a three by Ferry made it 32-9 at the 4:13 mark.
10 more points throughout the remainder of the second had the Spartans leading 42-18 at the break. After two periods, South Warren was shooting 15-of-33 from the field, including a 10-of-19 mark from three-point territory. Pierce led all scorers with 11 points at that point.
“I think it was really good,” said Pierce. “I enjoyed it and I know my teammates did, too.”
Sutton and Mason Towery stepped up their games in the third for Allen County-Scottsville – scoring 13 of its 15 points – but South Warren continued to stay in front with a comfortable margin, taking 54-33 advantage into the final quarter.
Just like they had done through three periods, the Spartans continued to play at a high level in the fourth, outscoring Allen County-Scottsville 19-12 to cap their impressive victory.
Sutton led all scorers with 23 points and 13 rebounds in the Lady Patriots’ setback while Towery finished with 11 points. No other Allen County-Scottsville player scored more than five.
“Good start – it’s just the first game of the year,” Embry said. “It was a good test. Allen County is going to win a lot of games. By tournament time, they’re gonna be a nice team.”
Senior writer Tyler Mansfield can be reached at mansfield.sportingtimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @_TylerMansfield.
