Playing at home for the first time this season, Triton took a varsity basketball sweep over visiting rival South Johnston on Friday night.

Defense powered Triton to a 41-25 win over South Johnston in the girls game as the Hawks remained unbeaten on the season.

“We held them to five points in the first half and that was awesome,” said Triton girls coach Richard Rozier. “I told them at halftime, ‘Let’s double our first half score in the third quarter.’ I haven’t checked the book yet, but I think we achieved our goal. And they just came out guns-a-blazing. And it’s always great to see when our captains, our leaders can take over. And we get rolling on the defensive end and get easy layups. That’s where it really starts for us: on the defensive end.”

Rozier said Triton responded well to playing in front of the home crowd for the first time this year.

“I think that carried us on defense, too,” Rozier said. “That energy. That effort. Now we’ve just got to get the jitters out so we can make some layups on the offensive end. But it was a good night.”

Sophomore A’Shari Watlington had 13 points, three assists and three steals and freshman Unique Cooke had three points, 13 rebounds, four steals and four blocks to lead the Hawks (5-0).

JaNiah Smith had eight points and four steals. Abby Hood had five points and five steals. Jakiya Leach had five points. Tristan Ennis had four points and six rebounds. Aubree Bass had two points and four rebounds. Virginia Pope had one point. Chyna Massey had five rebounds.

Freshman Lannah Price had eight points and senior Kennedy Byrd had six points to lead the Trojans (1-3).

Victoria Winborne had four points. Emma Thornton and Madison Carter had two points apiece. Danielle Morgan, Dianna Boykin and Jordyn Brown had one point apiece.

Triton opened the game with nine unanswered points before Price hit a three to put South on the board near the end of the first quarter.

Triton outscored South 9-3 in the first quarter, 9-2 in the second and 17-4 in the third. South found some offense in the fourth, outscoring Triton 16-6.

Rozier was happy to get his bench some extra playing time in the fourth quarter.

“That’s always awesome to get those girls some experience, the ones that may not play as much,” Rozier said. “It’s nice to have them get some game experience now, because you never know when you’re going to need them.”

In the boys game, Triton held off a fourth-quarter rally to win 57-46 over South Johnston.

“I think we gave up nine in the first quarter and our goal is always to give up less than 10 in a quarter,” said Triton coach T.J. Morrison. “If we can do that, we’ve got a chance to win. We didn’t do that in the last three quarters, but we were adequate. Not great, but adequate. They’re well-coached, great kids and play hard. It was a long time coming. I think it was this past January we came off of a 10-day pause (in quarantine) and came back and played them in our first game and got beat pretty bad at their place. It’s been a long time coming to get the second go or a rematch kind of deal. Happy for our kids, but we’ve still got a long way to go.”

South Johnston boys coach Brody Massengill, who missed the Trojans’ first three games because of COVID-19, said a lack of consistent offense hampered South.

“Right now, we’re struggling to score,” Massengill said. “One of our guys is out right now with COVID, one of our guards (junior Ryan Hudson) and he’s really our starting point guard. Him and Jaydn (McNeill) usually share some responsibilities. We’re still figuring out a lot about who we are and nonconference games are for that. But I’ve got to do a better job, as well, to put our guys in a position to score the basketball more. Effort was not in question tonight. We played as hard as we can play. But we’ve got to find a way to score more than 40-something points or it’s going to be hard for us to win ballgames.”

Junior Jalen Evans had 15 points, four rebounds and three blocks, freshman Quashaun Williams had 11 points and junior Will Heard had eight points to lead the Hawks (3-2).

“I think Jalen was upset Tuesday night (a 64-49 loss at Smithfield-Selma),” Morrison said. “He played at Triple-S and I don’t think he scored a bucket. And he took it personal and had a big game at Midway (game-high 23 points in a 62-58 road win Wednesday) and had a big game tonight. Quashaun’s a freshman. He’s coming along. He’s really talented. He’s just kind of learning and feeling through what we’re doing and what I’m asking of him. He’s going to be a really good player. And Will’s pretty solid, too.”

James Shaw had five points, four steals and two blocks. Sabine Wheeler and Romello Pegues had five points apiece. Nate McKoy had three points, four rebounds and three assists. Jaleel White had three points and four rebounds. Carter Daughtry had two points. Hayden Pope had five rebounds.

Junior Chase Norris had 18 points and senior Jaydn McNeill had 10 points to lead the Trojans (1-3).

Lucas Layman and Nick Jackson had six points apiece and Riley Adams, Brayden Barefoot and Cole Norris had two points apiece.

Holding an 11-9 lead late in the first quarter, Triton ended the quarter with six unanswered points, with Williams hitting a turnaround three-pointer at the buzzer.

Triton also outscored South 18-14 in the second quarter and 12-11 in the third, with Wheeler beating the buzzer with a three at the end of the third quarter to give Triton a 47-34 lead.

South started the fourth quarter with a 10-1 run, with a Chase Norris score cutting the lead to just four. But a pair of Williams free throws sparked a 9-2 run for Triton, including six points from Evans, to close out the game.

Triton is at home against rival Midway on Monday night before starting All American 3-A/4-A Conference play at home against E.E. Smith on Tuesday night. South Johnston hosts Johnston County foe Corinth Holders on Tuesday night.