The alarm clock went off just in time for the South Warren girls’ basketball team, which held off Bowling Green’s late charge for a 63-58 win Tuesday at Bowling Green High School.

South Warren (15-2 overall, 3-0 District 14), which is No. 1 in the Daily News Area Top 10 and No. 8 in the Associated Press state poll, trailed at the half but gained control early in the second half before surviving a late surge by the Lady Purples.

“You know you are going to get a team’s best, especially on their home court,” South Warren coach Blane Embry said. “Bowling Green has improved throughout the year. We are kind of staying the same. Not trying to make any excuses, but we have several girls injured and sick. We were able to fight through it. I was really proud of the girls for stepping up there.”

Bowling Green (9-8, 2-1) battled back and forth with the Spartans in the first half, with sophomore power forward Shaylyn Whitson controlling the paint. Whitson scored 14 points in the first half to help the Lady Purples lead by as much as five before going into the break with a 26-25 halftime advantage.

South Warren surged ahead to start the third quarter, with a 3-pointer from Natalie Pierce sparking a 10-0 run that gave the Spartans a nine-point lead.

“We just lost our defensive focus,” Bowling Green coach Calvin Head said. “We came out and got a stop to start and then we turned it over. (After that) we just never got back to our defensive focus. If you make mistakes, good teams like that will make you pay. You don’t want to play from behind against them.”

The lead grew to as much as 12 on several occasions before Bowling Green scored six straight to cut the deficit to 50-44 with 5:07 left.

Peyton Ferry’s 3 pushed the advantage back to 10 before the Lady Purples trimmed the margin to 57-53 after a 3 from Keely Morrow with 1:49 remaining.

South Warren had a chance to put the game away but missed four straight free throws – including two front ends of 1-and-1s. That allowed Bowling Green to get as close as three before Pierce sealed it with a pair of free throws with 12.5 seconds left.

“If we make free thows, that is a 10- or 12-point game,” Embry said. “We’ll take it. You have to win a little ugly sometimes, too. I give it to Bowling Green, they just outplayed us.”

Pierce led the Spartans with 19 points, 12 in the second half, while Amaya Lasley added 12 points.

“We were kind of slow at the start, but we kind of picked it up at halftime a little bit,” Pierce said. “We didn’t pick it up enough though. Once we gained our lead we didn’t really take off from that and build it farther like we normally do.”

Whitson finished with a game-high 20 points, while Morrow added 10 points and 13 rebounds.

“This was a (good) test,” Head said. “They are No. 8 in the state for a reason. Our girls came out and really competed. They didn’t give up. We had a chance right there at the end, cut it to three, so I loved the fight in our girls. We just have to continue to get better.”

Bowling Green will host Warren Central at 6 p.m. Friday. South Warren will host Muhlenberg County at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

SWHS 15 10 20 18 – 63

BGHS 18 8 9 23 – 58

SW – Pierce 19, Lasley 12, McDonald 9, Ferry 8, Stevenson 5, Dennison 5, Button 3, Steele 2.

BG – Whitson 20, Morrow 10, Brown 10, Ragland 9, Jones 9.

Bowling Green 66, South Warren 46, Boys

The Purples held South Warren to 29.3 percent shooting – 19 points in the second half – to pull away and remain perfect in District 14 play heading into Friday’s showdown with Warren Central.

“I thought we had a good night,” Bowling Green coach Derrick Clubb said. “The second half was pretty good defensively. Giving up 19 points to them is pretty good. They shoot it pretty well. They are really sound offensively. They’ve got some kids that can play and they are a really tough, physical team. I thought we kind of dug our heels in (in the) half-court and we did a good job on the offensive end taking good shots.”

Bowling Green (11-6 overall, 3-0 District 14) saw its 34-27 halftime lead trimmed to four before a 15-3 run extended the margin to 43-30.

The Purples continued to pull away in the fourth quarter, with South Warren (9-7, 1-2) unable to get closer than 12 in the final period.

“Hat’s off to (Bowling Green), they played real good defense,” South Warren coach Nelson Cundiff said. “They were able to speed us up. We want to slow it down. I thought we did a great job in the first half … we just have to do better offensively. We’ve got to get more movement. When we stop moving, that is when we get in trouble.”

Tyler Martin led the Spartans with 15 points, while Daniel Moore added 12 points.

Ziyon Kenner led the Purples with 13 points, while Jarius Key added 11 points and nine rebounds.

Bowling Green hosts Warren Central at 7:30 p.m. Friday. South Warren plays at Cumberland County at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

SWHS 11 16 10 9 – 46

BGHS 14 20 15 17 – 66

SW – Martin 15, D. Moore 12, C. Moore 7, Howard 7, Bahic 2, Spurrier 2, Haggerty 1.

BG – Kenner 13, Key 11, Gray 8, Buser 7, Mason 7, Dice 6, Dennis 6, Ju. Dingle 4, Thurman 2, Dennis 2.{&end}