After a slow start to 3-AAAA region play, the Northwestern Trojans find themselves firing on all cylinders at just the right time.

With their 53-35 win over Gaffney on Tuesday night, Northwestern is now the winner of three straight region games to bring its season record to 15-3. But according to coach John Bramlett, there is still much work to be done.

"What we need to do at this point of the season is fine-tune our offensive and defensive identity," he said. "We have plenty of room for improvement, mainly our ability to be in the right defensive position to prevent easy baskets."

Right from the start, the Indians tried to establish a fast-break offense, but their attempts to push the pace of the game were slowed by the Northwestern defense. In the first quarter, Northwestern guards Mariah McCoy and Ieshia Love had two steals each, with Love converting one of hers into a dish to Sha'Shay Alexander who netted a three-point play.

Gaffney - Tiana Logan 10, Tania Cornwell 6, Temira Bonner 6, Ansley McCraw 5, Sierra Davidson 4, Tymichia McGill 2, Yasmine Ellis 2.

Northwestern - Savannah Jones 8, Ieshia Love 8, Aubriana Thompson 8, Mariah McCoy 7, Ikeia Miller 6, Natalie Henderson 6, Sha'Shay Alexander 5, Cayse Branyon 4, Antonisha Hardy 1.

3-pointers - None. Team fouls - Northwestern 16, Gaffney 15. Fouled out -None.

Records: Northwestern 15-3, 3-2 in Region 3-AAAA; Gaffney 7-11, 1-4 in Region 3-AAAA.

Clover 58, Spartanburg 49: The Blue Eagles took charge in the Region 3-AAAA race with a road victory over the Vikings.

Bria Huffman scored 32 points to lead the offensive attack for Clover. Spartanburg started fast and led 12-5 after one period. Clover cut the deficit to 26-23 by halftime.

The Blue Eagles outscored Spartanburg 21-10 in the third to take a 44-36 lead. The win improved them to 5-0 in region play.

Clover - Bria Huffman 32, Telliya Patton 8, Logan Ballard 6, Lauren Richardson 5, Gadson Lefft 4, Aaliyah Knox 2, Elizabeth Edmunds 1.

Spartanburg - L. Young 19, K. Jeter 18, A. Jeter 8, M. Hackett 4

3- pointers - Clover 1 (Huffman), Spartanburg 2 (Jeter 2). Team Fouls - Clover 18, Spartanburg 12.

Records: Clover 14-4, 5-0 in Region 3-AAAA; Spartanburg 12-7, 4-1 in Region 3-AAAA.

Lancaster 63, Rock Hill 39: The Bearcats appeared to have momentum on the road with a 15-9 second quarter lead over Lancaster in Region 3-AAAA action on Tuesday night.

However, that momentum disappeared as foul trouble began to mount for the Bearcats, allowing Lancaster to capitalize and pull away for an eventual victory.

"We did not shoot the ball too bad," Rock Hill coach Keenan Orr said. "Our girls played hard; but we just could not get over the foul trouble that we found ourselves in. That took us completely out of our game."

Irvin Goodwin

Rock Hill - Anita Brown 1, Zakiya Knox 4, Asia Potts 8, Jericka English 4, Shaunte Young 16, Chelsey Dorsey 3, Jasmine Crockett 3.

Lancaster - Kyia Hough 4, Shantail Evans 3, Sharon Brunson 6, Torri Cunningham 2, Brittany Reese 2, Aliyah Davis 14, Tarah Tipton 8, Phoebe Johnson 16, Kenyatta Robertson 8.

3-pointers - Rock Hill 1 (Dorsey 1); Lancaster 3 (Davis 3). Team fouls - Rock Hill 20, Lancaster 19. Fouled out - Potts, Dorsey (RH).

Records: Rock Hill 8-11, 0-5 in Region 3-AAAA; Lancaster 8-9, 1-4 in Region 3-AAAA.

South Pointe 52, Chester 48: South Pointe finished on a 12-4 run over the final four minutes of the game to overtake the Cyclones and win its first region game of the season.

Junior forward Ashley Jaggers had eight of her game-high 18 during that final rally to lead South Pointe to the win. The game was nip-and-tuck throughout as the Cyclones led by two at the half and six after three quarters of play.

Jaggers scored again with 1:52 left to give South Pointe a 47-46 lead and again at 1:20 off an offensive rebound of a missed free throw to push the lead to four. Junior guard Sierra Gilmore also had five points in the final quarter for South Pointe. Shannon Snelgrove scored seven of Chester's 12 points in the opening period.

Steven Bowers

South Pointe - Ashley Jaggers 18, Kira Currence 8, Sierra Gilmore 7, Londan Minor 6, Cameron Davis 5, Lindsey Bradley 4, Breanna Davis 3, Deionna Davis 2.

Chester - Shannon Snelgrove 11, Tameka Tolliver 8, Alexus Young 8, Domesha Crockett 5, Britnee Stinson 5, ShaTerrica Mayfield 4, T'Ericka Sanders 4, Mara White 3, Diamond Simpson 1.

3-pointers - South Pointe 3 (Currence 2, Gilmore 1), Chester 3 (Crockett 1, Snelgrove 1, Stinson 1). Team fouls - South Pointe 15, Chester 19.

Records: South Pointe 5-13, 1-4 Region 4-AAA; Chester 9-10, 1-4 in Region 4-AAA.

Fairfield Central 52, Fort Mill 33: The slowest of starts doomed the Yellow Jackets in a region loss against the Griffins.

The Griffins jumped to a 14-3 lead after one quarter with the help of a full-court pressure defense. The Yellow Jackets didn't hit a field goal until Arianna Grevious' jumper with 5:14 left in the first half. Fort Mill trailed 26-12 at intermission.

"I just think we came out flat," Fort Mill coach Christene Benyak said. "I told the girls I'm very disappointed in our effort today."

A pair of 3-pointers to start the third quarter by Jada Martin and Christian Thompson helped the Griffins pull away. Rae Lynch led Fort Mill with eight points.

Bill Bender

Fairfield Central - Christian Thompson 11, Chyna Moore 6, Chelsa Seibles 7, Jada Martin 12, Tea'Quanna Pearson 5, Kaneka Butler 4, Jazmin Bostick 4, Tanise Davis 3.

Fort Mill - Rae Lynch 8, Carley Ross 7, Ally Abbott 1, Grace Burden 2, Arianna Grevious 7, Hanna Lyons 3, Lauren Wood 5.

3-pointers - Fairfield Central 5 (Thompson 2, Martin 1, Seibles 1, Davis 1), Fort Mill 1 (Lynch 1). Team fouls - Fairfield Central 17, Fort Mill 13.

Records: Fairfield Central 14-5, 3-2 in Region 4-AAA, Fort Mill (8-10, 3-2 in Region 4-AAA.