Shelton, Northwestern clip Clover

Kelia Shelton and Xy'Resha Isom combined for 37 points for Northwestern. Shelton didn't have the best shooting night, going 5-for-17, but she does much more than score.

The junior guard finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds and was 9-of-12 from the free throw line.

"It is amazing how she throws her body around with reckless abandon," Northwestern coach John Bramlett said. He said he would like to take credit for teaching Shelton to play the way she does, but admits her talent is "God-given."

The Lady Trojans (14-6, 4-3 in Region 3-AAAA) jumped out to an 11-1 edge to start the game, but Clover roared back to tie it behind a couple baskets each from Jaclin Poole and Stephanie Dover. Dover led the Blue Eagles with 14 points.

"It just came down to fundamentals," Clover coach Mike Pearson said. "The intensity was there; the execution was not."

Clover (7-12, 2-5) held a huge rebounding advantage throughout the game and had multiple second-chance opportunities. Unfortunately, the Blue Eagles missed a half-dozen layups or more.

Northwestern, playing in its third road game in four days, will host York on Friday night.

• YORK 53, FORT MILL 30 -- In York, the best offense was a good defense for York.

The Lady Cougars held Fort Mill to only nine points in the first half. In addition to keeping the Lady Jackets off the scoreboard, York created many easy scoring opportunities with its smothering defense.

"Fort Mill played very hard even though they did not have one of their best shooting nights," York coach Paula Blackwell said. "We wanted to use our defense to control the game and dictate the tempo."

Fort Mill coach Todd Bowser pointed to turnovers as the reason for the offensive futility.

"The first time we played them, we had 26 turnovers," Bowser said. "And tonight, we had only seven shots in the first half. We are playing good defense, but we are also turning the ball over too many times."

York, 13-9 overall and 5-2 in the region, built a 26-9 halftime lead, which grew to 38-16 after three quarters.

• NATION FORD 40, GAFFNEY 27 -- In Fort Mill, sometimes the difference in a game can come down to one thing. The Nation Ford Lady Falcons defeated the Gaffney Indians because they made their free throws. Nation Ford was 16-of-18 from the foul line while Gaffney went 3-for-24 (12.5 percent).

"We normally don't shoot free throws that well," Nation Ford coach Brian Turner said. "We played very good defense and rebounded. I told our team that if they play defense and rebound, they can win the game."

All game long, the Indians were frustrated by the Falcons' zone. Gaffney had trouble with it in the first half, as it had 11 points and 13 turnovers. The Indians were just 2-of-11 from the free throw line, which enabled Nation Ford to lead 17-11 at the half.

Gaffney's Logan Davis was able to keep Gaffney in it during the third quarter. She hit two 3-pointers, finishing with four for the game, and had a game-high 17 points. Nation Ford led 23-21 after three quarters.

The final quarter saw Nation Ford pull away, thanks to the Falcons going 9-for-9 from the line. Katie Kozlowski finished with 16 points, and Kaitlyn Smith had 12 for Nation Ford. Gaffney managed only six points in the quarter, all six coming off Davis 3-pointers.

"Free throws were the difference in the game," Gaffney coach Stacy Parris said. "We did not shoot the ball well. They played zone and outside shooting is not our strong point."

• ROCK HILL 56, LANCASTER 49 -- In Lancaster, the Lady Bearcats found themselves in an unusual situation late in Tuesday night's battle against Lancaster.

Game after game, Rock Hill found itself trailing late. As trends go, the Lady Bearcats would come back to make it close, only to lose the game in the final minutes.

Despite the lack of experience with a lead, Rock Hill avenged an earlier overtime loss against the Lady Bruins and waltzed out of the Lancaster gym with its first region win of the season.

The Lady Bearcats opened up an eight-point lead after the first quarter behind Laquesha Crockett. Crockett scored nine of her 14 points in the opening stanza. Teammate Sabrina Brown took over from there.

Each time the Lady Bruins looked to make a run to get back into the game, Brown came up with a huge bucket. Brown finished the contest with a game-high 19 points, with 15 coming in the second half as Lancaster attempted to rally.

Rock Hill's lead grew to as many as 15 points after a shot by Brown with just under 2:00 remaining in the third quarter.

Lancaster closed the gap to five points in the game's final minute.

Brown again came up big and hit a couple of huge shots from the free throw line to put the game away.

"I've been saying it all season, but these girls do not stop working," Rock Hill coach Eric Rollins said. "We have been playing well at times and it was nice to have a lead late. We made a couple of adjustments and Sabrina Brown came up huge for us. It is nice to have the first win under our belt."

Lancaster's Tamesha Fletcher was the only Lady Bruin who finished in double figures with a team-high 10 points.