South Warren Lady Spartans beat Franklin-Simpson 52-15 Monday, February 29, 2016, in the Region 4 Girls Basketball Tournament quarterfinal at E.A. Diddle Arena. (Bac Totrong/photo@bgdailynews.com)

About the only thing slowing South Warren in Monday night’s Region 4 Girls’ Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game against Franklin-Simpson was the Spartans themselves.

For about a quarter, they did a good job of doing just that. But after an abysmal first eight minutes shooting, South Warren (23-7) finally started making some of those shots and began to pull away for an easy 52-15 victory at Western Kentucky University’s E.A. Diddle Arena.

Even during that rough patch, the Spartans kept up the defensive pressure that eventually opened up plenty of easy scoring opportunities later. South Warren forced 27 turnovers in the game and came up with 17 steals.

“These kids have really taken to defense and bringing the intensity, and that’s what gets us started,” South Warren coach Blane Embry said. “Little bit tough start offensively, but that’s typical of first game of the regional tournament. We missed some easy shots and things, but luckily we made a few shots and opened up a little bit and continued to play good defense.”

The Spartans led just 6-2 by the end of the first quarter after hitting only 3 of 14 shot attempts. But starting with Amaya Lasley’s layup off her steal in the closing seconds of the first quarter, the Spartans reeled off 16 straight points while allowing just one Franklin-Simpson basket to take control. During that run in the second quarter, Lasley and Timitryi Patterson canned two straight 3-pointers to break up what soon resembled a layup drill.

Patterson, who will play collegiately at Midway College next year, finished with a game-high 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds. 

“I don’t get nervous before games anymore,” Patterson said. “I don’t know, I think I’ve played so many it’s kind of like, eh  – maybe next year in college I will because it’ll be different, but not now.”

Leading 22-4 at the break, the Spartans only built their advantage from there as they outscored the Lady Wildcats 16-5 in the third quarter.

Embry said this year’s team is more adaptable to switching on defense, allowing him to employ three or four different looks depending on the opponent. Whatever defense the Spartans are in, they thrive on causing pressure and creating offense off the mistakes they force.

“It’s really fun as a coach to be able to pull strings on the sidelines, and these young ladies just go out there and do it,” Embry said.

Having lost to South Warren by lopsided margins twice during the regular season, Franklin-Simpson coach David Clark knew his squad was facing a difficult matchup.

“They run a little matchup zone, they switch screens a lot, and then they’re long,” Clark said. “So if you don’t bounce the ball, they’re gonna deflect it. If you don’t take your mid-range shots, you’re probably not going to get very good shots. And you’ve got to knock those down and we didn’t knock them down.

” … There’s the bar right there. South Warren is one of the bars in this region.”

Lasley and Peyton Ferry added eight points each for the Spartans. Patterson and Zayana Bailey led South Warren with four steals each. Embry was particularly happy with Bailey’s defensive contribution, which amped up the pressure on the Lady Wildcats.

“She was a real sparkplug off the bench tonight, and that’s why we bring her in,” Embry said of Bailey, a junior guard. “She could start for most teams in the region, but we like being able to put her in for three or four different people and then we can turn it up a little bit.”

Oshe Baker and Mikey Doss had four points each to lead Franklin-Simpson (10-22), which was a bit of a surprise to even reach the regional tournament after losing four starters and virtually all of its scoring and rebounding from last season.

“I’m sad that it’s my last game, but overall everybody doubted us at the beginning,” Lady Wildcats senior Lakayla Atkins said. “For us to make it to Diddle is something serious.”

With the victory, South Warren moves into Friday’s 8 p.m. semifinal against Glasgow, which beat Metcalfe County 63-31 in Monday’s other quarterfinal game. South Warren lost 44-43 on Jan. 8 to the Lady Scotties in their only meeting this season, and Embry knows slowing Glasgow star Bree Glover (an Ole Miss signee) and the rest of the Lady Scotties will be a tough task.

“It’ll be team defense,” Embry said. “It’s not you throw one kid out there and say, ‘You stop Glover.’ Good luck with all that. That ain’t going to happen. So it’s going to have to be two or three or four of us, and then they’ve got some other nice players, too.”

FSHS 2   2   5   6 – 15

SWHS 6   16   16   14 – 52

FSHS – Baker 4, Doss 4, Lovan 3, Beller 2, Partinger 2.

SWHS – Patterson 19, Lasley 8, Ferry 8, Bailey 4, Dennison 4, Taylor 4, Pierce 2, Weaver 2, Parrish 1.

— Follow Sports Editor Jeff Nations on Twitter at twitter.com/Jeff_NationsBG or visit bgdailynews.com.