South Warren’s Tyler Martin (right) shoots as Warren East’s Ryan Carter defends during the Spartans’ 71-59 boys’ basketball win Tuesday at South Warren High School. For more photos and video, visit bgdailynews.com.

Outside of the first quarter, South Warren had a pretty good night.

The Spartans honored their seniors, and stayed in control most of the game against Warren East. It even got to a point where an alley-oop attempt in the fourth quarter was followed with laughs on Tyler Martin’s miss rather than frustration.

South Warren hasn’t had many nights like that.

“In our district, you just take what you can get,” Spartans coach Blane Embry said. “We’re definitely due to get some breaks go our way.”

Martin scored 16 of his 29 points in the first half and helped key a big second quarter run in the Spartans’ 71-59 win over Warren East on Tuesday.

South Warren (10-14 overall, 3-5 District 14) started the second quarter on an 18-0 run and never let the lead slip into doubt. Martin went 13-of-14 from the free-throw line and the Spartans shot 23-of-32 from the stripe as they wrapped up district play in the regular season.

“It was just nice to see everybody playing as a team and finding the open man,” South Warren sophomore Jace Carver said. “We saw Tyler was hot and we got him the ball and he kept giving us our assists.”

The Spartans have a regular-season sweep over the Raiders (10-14, 0-7), who still have a chance against Bowling Green on Friday to avoid a winless district record in the regular season.

Warren East and South Warren are already locked into a first round district tournament meeting. A road trip to Franklin-Simpson on Thursday predates three home games against Hart County, Clinton County and Butler County to close the regular season.

“Really good feeling against East knowing we have them first round of the district,” Martin said.

The Raiders showed up in the first quarter with key defensive stops that held South Warren back – at least for eight minutes.

Thomas Maxey got Warren East going with five points in the first quarter. His driving layup at the buzzer put the Raiders up 14-9 before the Spartans stormed back.

Tyler Martin powered an 18-0 run to open the second quarter. His triple from the right elbow gave him 16 points and forced Warren East into a timeout down 22-14 with 4:50 left in the half.

“Really defense getting stops and we were pushing the ball ahead before they could get back,” Martin said.

Warren East didn’t score until over a minute later on two Kaleb Matlock free throws. Adante Barber hit two triples and Jordan Jones’ 3-pointer from the left corner helped Warren East pull within a 34-28 deficit at halftime.

“We went through a dry patch there in the second quarter and we let our offense, or lack thereof, affect our defense,” WEHS coach Brandon Combs said.

The Spartans defense limited the Raiders to three field goals in the third quarter and ended the frame on a 9-0 run.

The Spartans led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter.

“I felt like every time they’d get a run, we’d make a few stops and execute,” Embry said. “We shared the ball well and I thought we rebounded pretty well.”

Barber led the Raiders with 17 points.

“I thought we fought at different times to get back into the game,” Combs said. “I thought the game was very chippy … felt like that was going to be the case with teams playing here in two weeks. We got a good look at them tonight and scout them the rest of the way.”

WEHS 14 14 8 23 – 59

SWHS 9 25 19 18 – 71

WEHS – Barber 17, Matlock 8, Maxey 8, Carter 7, Wallace 6, Blaine 6, Yoakem 4, Jones 3

SWHS – Martin 29, Carver 13, Veltkamp 9, Harrison 6, Spurrier 5, Jones 3, Day 2, Hill 2, Putman 2

GIRLS

South Warren 71, Warren East 58

South Warren wrapped up its District 14 regular-season slate with no problems in a 71-58 win over Warren East on Tuesday.

The Spartans (14-9 overall, 7-1 District 14) have four regular-season games remaining and finished the district portion of the year with one loss to Bowling Green on Jan. 8.

With a season split between the district’s top teams, a coin flip to determine the No. 1 seed will take place at the district tournament meeting Saturday at Warren East High School.

The Spartans made quick work of the Lady Raiders, a team that entered Tuesday winning four of its last five, including two district victories.

Warren East (11-15, 3-5) had no answer for South Warren’s 3-point barrage to open the night.

“Girls played really good defense to open up and moved the ball, found the open person and were hitting shots early,” SWHS coach Lane Embry said.

South Warren started hot with four 3-pointers in the first five minutes to build a double-digit lead. The Spartans made 10-of-12 shots from the field in the first quarter.

“Everybody on the team hit a shot,” WEHS coach Orlando Hayden said. “They didn’t miss a shot in the first quarter. It changed everything.”

Natalie Pierce assisted on back-to-back scores from Jessica Bush and Hallie Parrish to push South Warren’s lead to 31-13.

The Spartans made just one field goal the rest of the half to take a 35-22 lead into the locker room.

South Warren put it away to start the third quarter on a 13-5 run. Lucy Patterson split two free throws for the Lady Raiders’ only score in the last 3:10 of the quarter, which allowed South Warren to build a 24-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

Warren East cut the deficit to 11 late in the fourth quarter when Caroline Forrester scored 10 of her team-best 16 points.

“Most of the time we get back in the game,” Hayden said. “Our problem is usually a bad start. We start bad at the beginning. We were down 24 at one point and it’s hard to come back from that.”

Brook Stevenson and Pierce led the Spartans with 17 points apiece. Warren East closes district play at home against Bowling Green on Friday while South Warren travels to Franklin-Simpson on Thursday.

“I’m ready to see us get back to executing defensively and getting in the right spots,” Embry said on the goal for South Warren’s last four games. “Nothing new goes in this time of year, so it’s just get back to the roots of what we do and try to be the best we can be of who we are.”

WEHS 12 10 10 26 – 58

SWHS 24 11 21 15 – 71

WEHS – Forrester 16, Hymer 12, Patterson 9, Bailey 6, Price 5, Miller 5, Sparks 5

SWHS – Pierce 17, Stevenson 17, Enlow 11, Parrish 10, Bush 7, Button 4, Weaver 4, Reynolds 1{&end}