FROM STAFF REPORTS

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Two Caldwell County high school basketball teams -- South Caldwell's varsity girls and West Caldwell's varsity boys -- clinched regular-season conference titles with big road wins on Tuesday night.

The Spartans locked up the Northwestern 3A-4A championship and the No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament with a 48-37 victory over Alexander Central in Taylorsville.

Meanwhile, the Warriors pulled out a 70-60 overtime win over Draughn in Valdese to claim the Catawba Valley 2A league title, their first conference championship in five seasons.

VARSITY GIRLS South Caldwell 48 Alexander Central 37

South clinched its first conference title in four years and its first outright title in nine seasons on Tuesday night with its victory over Alexander Central.

Matison Hall scored 14 points for the Spartans (21-1, 11-0 Northwestern 3A-4A), who shared the Northwestern 4A title with Freedom in 2006 and won the Western Foothills 3A title outright in 2001.

"It's a goal that was reached by the ladies," South head coach Jeff Parham said. "They set a goal to win the conference, but we're taking it one game at a time. We've got two days to get ready for Hickory to wrap up the regular season, then we'll set our sights on the conference tournament."

The Spartans -- who can post their first undefeated conference season since 2000 with a win over the Red Tornadoes on Friday night -- jumped out to a 13-7 lead after the first quarter and a 28-15 halftime lead, and were never seriously challenged in winning their 12th consecutive game.

"We got to play a lot of people tonight," Parham said. "We missed a lot of easy shots ... but the girls did what they had to do in looking at the big picture, and that's win the conference (title). Now we'll move on."

Chelsea Brown and Alexa Looper had nine points each for the Cougars (6-17, 2-9).

Fred T. Foard 63, Hibriten 53

Hibriten's varsity girls basketball team led after three quarters, but faltered in the fourth in a 63-53 loss to Fred T. Foard on Tuesday night in Newton.

Briana Wilder had a double-double with 25 points and 16 rebounds, and Keisha Corpening added 15 points and eight boards for the Panthers (6-15, 0-11 Northwestern 3A-4A), who led 23-19 after the first quarter and 48-46 after three periods.

However, the Tigers (10-13, 3-8) outscored Hibriten 17-5 in the final eight minutes to pull out the win.

Tonya Propst scored 17 points, Caressa Young 13 and Brooke Robinson 10 for Foard.

Draughn 42, West Caldwell 31

West Caldwell's varsity girls basketball team couldn't overcome a slow start in falling to Draughn 42-31 on Tuesday night in Valdese.

Ravin Carter scored 13 points for the Warriors (10-12, 7-6 Catawba Valley 2A), who dropped to fifth place in the league standings.

The Wildcats (11-11, 7-5) shut out West 7-0 in the first quarter, then pushed their lead to 19-7 at the half.

"We played pretty darn good last night (against Bunker Hill), and tonight we played pretty darn bad," West head coach Stephen McMasters said. "We just have to get to work tomorrow and make a big final push."

Lashshia Connelly scored 10 points for Draughn.

VARSITY BOYS West Caldwell 70 Draughn 60 (OT)

Kendall Jones scored 27 of his 35 points in the second half, including seven in overtime, as West Caldwell downed Draughn to give head coach Danny Anderson his 12th conference title in 18 seasons.

D.J. Dula added 15 points and Shaquan Fogle 10 for the Warriors (18-2, 13-0 Catawba Valley 2A), who led 24-8 at the halftime break, only to see the Wildcats fight back to tie the score at 55-55 at the end of regulation.

"You want to know why I'm bald-headed?" said Anderson, who is now two wins away from 400 career wins at West Caldwell and just one away from the 550th of his 28-year coaching career.

"But I'm proud of our kids ... they got to back to where we want it to be. We didn't play the greatest the last two nights, but everybody's gunning for you when you're on top. We're proud of the kids for battling through that sort of thing and surviving. They gave us their best shot, and we fought through it."

Tim Beck scored 13 points to lead three other players in double figures for Draughn (7-13, 5-7). Chris Brown had 12 points, Adam Oliver 11 and John Moore 10.

Hibriten 68, Fred T. Foard 48

Hibriten's varsity boys basketball team jumped ahead early, then cruised to a 68-48 victory over Fred T. Foard on Tuesday night in Newton.

Darius Lipford scored a game-high 16 points for the Panthers (12-9, 8-3 Northwestern 3A-4A), who led 16-3 after the first quarter.

Cody Palmer added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Josh Dula had 11 points and five assists for Hibriten, which remains in second place in the league standings.

Jameel Owens and C.J. Wardrick had 13 points each for the Tigers (2-20, 0-11).

Alexander Central 46 South Caldwell 43

South Caldwell's varsity boys basketball team rallied from a 10-point deficit in the first quarter, but saw its comeback spoiled in a 46-43 loss to Alexander Central on Tuesday night in Taylorsville.

Nick Austin scored 15 points for the Spartans (5-17, 3-8 Northwestern 3A-4A), who were down 13-0 midway through the first quarter and 18-8 by the end of the period.

However, South fought back to pull within 26-19 at the half, then swapped the lead three times with the Cougars in the fourth quarter.

Jason Harbert had 13 points and Daniel Rauscher 10 for Alexander Centrl (13-9, 4-6).

JV GIRLS Alexander Central 34 South Caldwell 23

South Caldwell's junior varsity girls basketball team saw its shot at a share of the Northwestern 3A-4A title thwarted after suffering a 34-23 loss to Alexander Central on Tuesday afternoon in Taylorsville.

Lindsey Potter scored 10 points for the Spartans (16-2, 7-2), who dropped into a tie for second place in the league standings with the Cougars. It also allowed Watauga to clinch the conference title.

Maty Setzer had 14 points for Alexander Central, which led 21-14 at the half, then put the game away with a 12-5 run in the fourth quarter.

Draughn 48 West Caldwell 47 (OT)

West Caldwell's junior varsity girls basketball team fell in overtime to Draughn, 48-47, on Tuesday afternoon in Valdese.

Daryan Dixon-Dula scored 19 points, Alexis Denny added 14 and Hailey Green 11 for the Warriors (7-9, 5-6 Catawba Valley 2A), who led 28-14 at the half. But the Wildcats rallied in the second half to tie the score at 42-42, then outscored West 6-5 in the overtime period.

JV BOYS West Caldwell 32, Draughn 14

West Caldwell's junior varsity boys basketball moved into a three-way tie for the Catawba Valley 2A lead after beating Draughn 32-14 on Tuesday afternoon in Valdese.

Kalice Steptoe scored 10 points for the Warriors (14-2, 9-2), who led 10-0 after the first quarter and 18-6 through three quarters.

West now shares the league lead with Newton-Conover and East Burke.

Charlie Baker led the Wildcats with four points.