Greenwood had two days to form a new plan without its best player.

It served more as motivation than a setback.

What can the Gators do with an extra effort? Who can step off the bench and get an extra boost to make up for the guard sitting on the bench with his hand in a cast who accounts for 18.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

The answer left the Gators head coach ecstatic.

“They just all went wild,” Bob Pels said after watching Greenwood spark a late run in a 58-47 win over South Warren on Friday.

Junior forward Ben Carroll had eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter when the Gators turned a neck-and-neck race into a sprint at the finish. Greenwood went on a 12-0 run in the final minutes to lock up a key district win with senior point guard Jack Roberts watching from the bench.

Roberts will miss the next month with a broken hand, but Greenwood (2-3 overall, 1-1 District 14) conjured up enough energy with a wide supporting cast to make up for the loss.

“It’s a blow for sure, but we’re glad it’s happening now and not later and I think we’re doing well now without him,” Carroll said. “We adapted well. … It was big. Everybody did their part and nobody did something stupid tonight. Everybody was ready to take on that role and score the extra points and get the extra rebounds to fill in for Jack.”

Bowling Green dismantled the Gators on Tuesday by 23 points and Greenwood lost Roberts shortly after. Greenwood on Friday led for the first half and entered a seesaw affair for much of the third quarter.

Peyton Loggins scored midway through the fourth to put the Gators back on top and Noah Stansbury’s 3-pointer in the right corner off a kickout from Carroll was the spark for the Gators’ deciding run.

Carroll’s own triple at the top of the key with 40 seconds left was the dagger in Greenwood’s first district win. Stansbury finished with 13 points, Parker Williams had eight points, while Loggins and Chandler Wilson each added six points.

“We really emphasized being aggressive at stuff like that,” Pels said. “We had to shift everything around with Roberts out and clearly we all had to play a lot harder. Sometimes they would let Jack do stuff and watch and now they know they can’t do that.

“We had just two days to put this together. I was pleased with the defense and I liked everything we did.”

The absence of Roberts didn’t hurt Greenwood in the first half despite a slow start. Ben Carroll hit a floating jumper to snap a nearly four-minute scoreless streak by either team in the first quarter. Josh Potter came off the bench to score the last points of the quarter to give Greenwood a 7-6 lead after eight minutes.

The Gators stretched the lead with a few breaks from the 3-point line.

Isaac Stansbury opened the second quarter with a triple and his brother Noah hit his own 3 a few possessions later to make it a 15-9 Greenwood lead.

Gavin Spurrier’s buzzer-beating shot gave him 10 points in the first half to trim the South Warren deficit to 22-16 at the break.

The Spartans came out of halftime fast by shooting 7-of-8 from the field to take a 31-27 lead. They finished the quarter 8-of-11 from the field and led by two going into the fourth quarter.

Leads exchanged a few more times until Tayshawn Jones’ bucket off a Spurrier assist served as the final go-ahead for the Spartans at 45-44 with 3:36 to play.

Greenwood tightened up defensively and used the run to end a three-game winning streak for South Warren (3-3, 1-1).

“I thought we were in a great spot there and just didn’t finish,” SWHS coach Blane Embry said. “We didn’t sit down defensively and didn’t execute our offense all night long. I think the last five minutes there was a microcosm of people wanting to go one-on-one and we just aren’t good enough to do that.”

Spurrier finished with 16 points and Jace Carver added 10 points for the Spartans, who turn around to play Logan County on Saturday night at 5:30 p.m.

Greenwood will host Franklin-Simpson on Tuesday.

South Warren 6 10 18 13 – 47

Greenwood 7 15 10 26 – 58

SWHS – Spurrier 16, Carver 10, Martin 7, Harrison 6, Jones 6, Day 2

GHS – Carroll 18, N. Stansbury 13, Williams 8, Loggins 6, Wilson 6, I. Stansbury 5, Potter 2

Girls

South Warren 59, Greenwood 28

Natalie Pierce poured in 24 points and South Warren had its best defensive night of the season in a 59-28 win at Greenwood on Friday.

South Warren (4-2 overall, 2-0 District 14) forced Greenwood (1-5, 0-2) into 22 turnovers and just 10 points in the first half.

The Spartans have won three of their last four going into the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic next weekend at Lexington Catholic.

“Coming out of the season we knew we’d have to be good defensively and preached we would have to be better every single day,” SWHS coach Lane Embry said. “The girls did good things early in pressure defense and late. Getting late stops is the key to winning games in the fourth quarter.”

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Pierce and Taylor Enlow broke open a sluggish start to give South Warren a 14-4 lead after one quarter.

Greenwood never found a flow with eight turnovers coming before Jacqueline Jackson’s floater in traffic with 2:45 left in the half.

Greenwood made just four field goals in the first half and trailed 25-10 at the break.

The Lady Gators came out of the locker room with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to single digits and force the Spartans to their first timeout with a 27-18 lead at the 5:55 mark.

But Pierce heated back with a triple and a three-point play to make it a 15-point lead.

South Warren kept the pressure up with a 21-point fourth quarter. Greenwood’s 28 points were the fewest the Spartans have allowed all year.

The Lady Gators host Franklin-Simpson on Tuesday.

South Warren 14 11 13 21 – 59

Greenwood 4 6 13 5 – 28

SWHS – Pierce 24, Stevenson 9, T. Enlow 7, Weaver 6, Button 3, Reynolds 3, C. Enlow 3, Deaton 2, Perrish 2.

GHS – Jackson 13, Miller 8, Milan 4, Evans 3.{&end}