The Spartans and Wildcats exchanged a round of big offensive runs with SSS putting together the last one, which was capped by clutch 3-pointers from Dalvin Stancil and Keagan Turner in the final 70 seconds of play which lifted the visitors to a 62-60 victory. The Spartans' win followed a 12-point victory by West Johnston last Monday in the opening round of the Johnston County Christmas Invitational.

"It was a bad time to play SSS," said West Johnston coach Shelly Marsh. "I expected something like this but you can't convince kids sometimes. They came out here thinking they'd already won the game since we beat them last week.

"SSS played really hard and battled for everything."

West's girls squad won the opener, 51-43, closing with a solid fourth quarter.

The Wildcats' boys squad led 30-19 after a 14-2 run midway of the second quarter but SSS came back at the hosts with a 23-9 spurt that covered the end of the first half and most of the third. Keagan Turner's transition layup with 2:06 to play gave the Spartans a 42-39 lead with 2:06 to play in the third quarter.

That move only seemed to spark the Wildcats' offense, which took advantage of hard earned, momentum-changing baskets in the post by Ben Jacobs and Deonte Anderson to spark a 17-6 Wildcats' offensive attack.

The run included two big 3-point baskets by West junior Mark Parker. Parker nailed the first at the end of the third quarter under big pressure from a Spartan defender. Then, less than two minutes into the final frame, he hit a 3-ball from the wing and was fouled on the play, earning a free throw that he converted to put his team up 53-48.

Parker had a game-high 20 points for West, while Marcus Taylor, whose offensive work helped the Wildcats get their early lead, finished with 14.

Parker added an old-fashioned three-point play on West's next possession, extending the lead to 56-48. But the Wildcats were held scoreless on their next four offensive trips, while SSS scored on its next four trips.

The Spartans' Stancil scored on a driving layup, then hit a 3-pointer after a crosscourt pass from Turner. Two Wallace Spragins free throws pulled Smithfield-Selma even at 56 with 2:50 to play on their next possession.

Jacobs was able to answer for the Wildcats with a three-point play for a 59-56 lead but that would be the last of West's field goals on the night.

After an exchange of fruitless possessions, Stancil found his range from behind the arch again, off of another Turner pass, tying the score at 59 with 1:11 to play.

Taylor hit one of two free throws for West, giving the Wildcats a 60-59 lead with 27.6 seconds to play but SSS quickly attacked the basket after the second free throw missed the mark.

This time, Stancil fed Turner on a 3-point shot that put the Spartans up 62-60 with 18 seconds to play. West had a chance to win but couldn't get the ball to Parker with him in position to get off a shot and the Wildcats settled for an off-balance 3-pointer that missed everything.

"We didn't play smart at the end of the game," Marsh said. "And we played like we were behind at times when we had the lead. We just didn't play smart."

SSS claimed the rebound and was able to run out the clock for its second victory of the Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference season.

West Johnston made things on the offensive end a struggle for Smithfield-Selma most of the night but the Spartans found a way to stay with the Wildcats, trailing by just three at the half and then cutting the lead to a single point on a Katie Byrd jumper entering the final quarter.

That's when West went to a half-court trapping defense. The Wildcats were able to trap SSS's guards in the corners and then jumped the pass out of the double team, picking up three steals and forcing a total of seven turnovers.

"That's something we've been trying to work on," said West girls coach Kris Bennett. "We've done a good job of getting the trap but this was the best job we've done of getting the third person involved and coming up with those steals."

But still, the Spartans, who were coming off of a win in the Johnston County Christmas Invitational, were within two points after a Megan Cater lay-up at 44-42 with 1:25 to play. The Wildcats quickly answered that score, however, when Mary Beth Tew threw a long pass to Candace Smith for a layup, breaking Smithfield-Selma's attempted press.

Cater's shot was SSS's last field goal of the night. West hit five of its six free throws in the final 52 seconds of play to pull away.

"That's the best fourth quarter that we've played all year," Bennett said. "We went six-for-eight at the free throw line, we controlled the ball well and managed the clock smartly."

Tatiana Dixon finished with a game-high 12 points for West, while Smith and Kassidy Burr finished with eight points each.

West also improved its production on the offensive glass in the second half, limiting the Spartans to just three second-chance shots.

"They beat us 6-1 on the offensive boards in the first half," Bennett said. "And we talked about that. Alli Parrish is a beast on the boards. She consistently crashes the boards harder than anyone in the conference. I don't know if we did a better job on the boards as much as keep them from getting to the offensive boards more."

The Wildcats had nine offensive rebounds in the second half.

Cater paced Smithfield-Selma with 11 points, while Parrish added nine and Byrd collected nine points.

The Spartans head into another rivalry battle Friday night when they visit Clayton. West Johnston heads to Southeast Raleigh.