South Warren's Peyton Ferry (center) clashes with Glasgow's Leah Moore (right) and Ashanti Gore Friday, March 2, 2018, during South Warren's 63-46 win in the Region 4 girls' basketball tournament at E.A. Diddle Arena. (Bac Totrong/photo@bgdailynews.com)

The South Warren girls’ basketball team got over the hump Friday night and head coach Blane Embry couldn’t wait to let the media know how happy he was the team cleared that hurdle after a convincing 63-46 win over Glasgow in the semifinals of the Region 4 tournament at E.A. Diddle Arena.

South Warren (31-3) clinched a spot in the first region championship game in the program’s history with a slew of 3-pointers in the first half and a tough defense that limited Glasgow to 31.3 percent shooting.

The win snapped a string of four straight losses in the region semifinals – which included two losses to the Lady Scotties.

“At the end of it I told the ladies that they worked too hard to not get past this game this year,” Embry said. “We are really excited. I am excited for them to get to tomorrow night. People don’t get here that often. It’s the first time for our young program. I’ve been to this game close to 15 times now and there is nothing like it.”

South Warren senior Amaya Lasley, who guaranteed her team would make the region final after losing to Russell County in overtime last year, said it felt really good to win Friday’s game.

“I’ve been in this position (four other times),” Lasley said. “We always lose this game. I’m glad I get to do it with (my teammates) and actually get to go to the region championship game tomorrow (Saturday).”

South Warren, the consensus No. 1 team in Region 4 all season, punched its ticket to the region championship with a strong start from 3-point range and a comfortable lead from the second quarter on.

South Warren never trailed – scoring the first five points and leading 18-10 after one quarter.

The Spartans scored the first 10 points of the second period – including 3s from Peyton Ferry and Natalie Pierce – to push the advantage to 18 with 5:20 left in the half. Glasgow (22-10) got as close as 30-18, before South Warren closed the half with 3s from Sarah Dennison, Brooke Stevenson and Pierce to make the score 39-23. The Spartans finished 15-for-30 from the field, 7-for-12 from 3-point range in the first half.

“I always tell them, ‘If you are gonna shoot it, shoot it. Don’t hold back. Let the thing go,’ ” Embry said. “We sort of hang our hat on that. Sometimes you will go through lulls there where you don’t make it, but all of the sudden you will hit two or three in a row and everybody gets all happy. I told them to take the shots they have taken all year long. We are not going to change anything at this point.”

South Warren extended the advantage to 45-25 midway through the third quarter, before Glasgow tried to chip away, cutting the deficit to 47-32. The Spartans regained the momentum on the final play of the third quarter with an off-balance 3 from Pierce to push the lead back to 18 points.

The Spartans led by as much as 20 points in the fourth quarter, with Glasgow unable to get closer than 15.

“I am happy for these (five seniors),” Embry said. “You just don’t know what a quality group this is off the court. Forget the basketball. Forget all the records they have set. This is just a great senior class. I’m just tickled to death for this group to get the finals. Hopefully they can turn it loose tomorrow (Saturday) night and we can get something done there, too.”

Lasley led the Spartans with 17 points. Pierce added 16 points and Dennison finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Ashanti Gore had 12 points to lead Glasgow, while Anzley Adwell added 10 points.

“A lot of credit goes to South Warren,” Glasgow coach Justin Stinson said. “They are a really good basketball team. They go 7-for-12 from the 3-point line in the first half. We got off to a rough start and it is hard to play from behind against a team that is that good. They are an outstanding basketball team, a lot of offensive weapons.

“I was really, really proud of my kids. I thought they continued to battle, continued to fight. They were just a little bit too much for us tonight. They have been No. 1 in the region all year long and they proved it tonight.”

Despite the loss, Stinson said he was proud of the progress his young team made this season.

“It was a huge step for us,” Stinson said. “A lot of people didn’t even pick us to make the region tournament, so to come up here and beat the defending regional champions and get to the semis … I know we are moving in the right direction.”

South Warren will now face District 14 rival Bowling Green at 6 p.m. Saturday. It will be the fourth meeting between the two schools this season with the Spartans winning the first three, including a 68-62 win in last week’s District 14 championship game.

SWHS 18 21 11 13 – 63

GHS 10 13 9 14 – 46

SW – Lasley 17, Pierce 16, Dennison 10, Ferry 7, McDonald 7, Stevenson 3, Bush 2, Enlow 1.

GHS – Gore 12, Adwell 10, Bradley 8, Hale 6, Page 3, McMurtrey 3, Hughes 2, Lee 2.{&end}