Three games in about 30 hours may seem like a task for a team with only eight active players on the roster, but the South Warren boys’ basketball team got off to a flying start – rolling to a 73-38 win over John Hardin in the opening round of the Chopped Lawn Holiday Classic on Monday at South Warren High School.

South Warren (7-1) took control in the early minutes and cruised from there to move on to face Todd County Central later in the day.

“This is going to show us what we are made of,” South Warren coach Carlos Quarles said. “The goal was to try to play the best we can so we could rest and get off our legs a little bit. Three games in two days is pretty tough, so I was proud of how they took care of business.”

The Spartans set the tone from the start – scoring the first six points and pushing out to an 18-2 advantage late in the quarter.

A 19-0 run extended the margin to 30-5 early in the third, with the Spartans advantage ballooning to 43-12 by halftime.

“It’s a morning game,” Quarles said. “We are not really used to that, so I wanted to get our juices flowing a little bit. We wanted to get up and down to kind of get going.”

The lead continued to expand in the second half. Jaxen Decker’s layup made the score 60-25 to force the KHSAA mandated running clock with 2:23 left in the third. The Spartans were able to rotate all eight players, getting some much needed rest before the second game of the day.

“We have a lot of guys that I can trust and rely on to make plays,” Quarles said. “We have several guys that can make plays. I just feel like the ball is going to find the right person, then they are going to make a play that makes us effective on offense. Defensively, we are interchangeable the way we can guard multiple defenders so it helps us in our rotations.”

Three Spartans finished in double figures. Decker led the way with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Owen Shively added 15 points, while Caden McIntyre added 13 points.

South Warren shot 46 percent from the field, but Decker said the efficiency could have been better.

“We really need more layups to fall,” Decker said “We have to start locking in on that. Other than that I thought we shot it well outside.”

South Warren would go on to clinch a spot in the championship game of the tournament after an 87-33 win over Todd County Central in Monday’s semifinal matchup. South Warren jumped out to a 30-7 lead after one and continued to dominate from there. Six players finished in double figures with Brandon Perkins leading the way with 17 points.

South Warren was scheduled to face Beech (Tenn.) in the championship game on Tuesday, a game that was not completed before press time. The Spartans head to Henderson County for the Faupel Automotive Group – Colonel Basketball Classic this weekend, facing Graves County at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Mayfield at 3 p.m.

JHHS 5 7 19 7 – 38

SWHS 22 21 24 6 – 73

JH – Schulenberg 20, Palmer 8, Wade 6, Lynch 2, Luna 2.

SW – Decker 19, Shively 15, McIntyre 13, Pratt 8, Willis 8, Perkins 6, Sisson 2, Knight 2.