Triton won a varsity basketball sweep at All American 3-A/4-A Conference and Harnett County rival Western Harnett on Thursday night.

Triton girls coach Richard Rozier’s return to his alma mater was a successful trip, as a dominant third quarter powered the Hawks to a 41-29 win over Western Harnett in a defensive battle in the girls game.

“It’s always nice to be back,” said Rozier, who played high school football and basketball at Western Harnett. “It’s nice to get a win here. Coach (Matthew) Smith always has those girls fired up. So, it was good to play against them to get us ready for tomorrow night against Westover. Western Harnett is always going to be a challenge to coach against, because they play like they have nothing to lose every night. But we had great leadership. Abby (Hood) and Tristan (Ennis) really stood out and played great ball games. Very team oriented. They really stepped up.”

Western Harnett girls coach Matthew Smith said he was proud of his girls continued efforts to improve.

“Triton’s a good team,” coach Smith said. “Defensively, we’re getting better. We’re getting better every time. I am not disappointed. We’ve already thrown out win-loss records. All we’re worried about now is heart, and I have 13 girls, 16 if you count the managers and my associate coach, girls completely committed to this team. So, we’re just going to do our best and work harder and harder every day.”

Freshman JaNiah Smith had nine points and four assists and sophomore A’Shari Watlington had nine points to lead the Hawks (10-3, 4-3 AAC).

Abby Hood had seven points, eight rebounds, two blocks and four steals. Tristan Ennis had seven points and eight rebounds. Jakiya Leach had four points and 11 rebounds. Mahogany McKoy had three points. Aubree Bass had two points and five rebounds.

Rozier said Triton’s rebounding was a major factor in the win.

“We had a really bad rebounding night against Terry Sanford the other night (a 59-34 loss at Triton Tuesday),” Rozier said. “That’s something we really harped on at practice between then and now. It’s something we knew we had to improve on, especially against Western Harnett, because we knew they would make the best out of those rebounds. So, we really had to crash the boards hard.”

Senior Makenyia Mackey had eight points and junior Sydney Jackson and sophomore Shalyna McCants had seven points apiece to lead the Eagles (3-9, 1-6).

Jeanne Cordova had three points. Trinity Gaither and Maddie Burns had two points apiece.

Triton held a 21-17 lead at halftime after a closely contested first half. But the Hawks took control of the game by going on a 14-4 run through the third quarter.

Western outscored Triton 8-6 in the fourth quarter.

Triton met its defensive goals as the Hawks won, 65-33, over Western Harnett in the boys game.

“Defensively we try to set a goal: 10 or under every quarter,” said Triton boys coach T.J. Morrison. “I think we met it every quarter and the total was less than 40, so a good defensive effort. A lot of guys touched the ball. A lot of guys contributed.”

Juniors Jalen Evans and Will Heard had 11 points apiece and freshman Quashaun Williams had 10 points to lead the Hawks (8-9, 3-5).

Nate McKoy had nine points and 12 rebounds. Romello Pegues had eight points. Sabine Wheeler and J.J. Cowan had four points apiece. Elijah Stewart-Williams and Carter Daughtry had three points apiece. James Shaw had two points. Hayden Pope had six rebounds.

Freshman Fred Belk led all scorers with 16 points to pace the Eagles (0-14, 0-8).

Donavan Thomas had eight points. Jaden Maynard had four points. Malachi Smith had three points. Jackson Lavengood had two points.

Triton outscored Western in all four quarters: 16-10 in the first quarter, 17-6 in the second, 17-8 in the third and 15-9 in the fourth.

Triton travels to conference opponent Westover and Western Harnett is at home against conference and county rival Overhills on Friday night.