WEST POINT — The West Point High School boys basketball team found its second gear on the second possession of the second half Tuesday night.

After battling Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A, Region 2 rival New Hope on near even terms in the first half, West Point had all of the answers in the final half. The Green Wave turned their trapping zone defense into a fast-break layup line on the other end to post a 74-67 victory.

“We put our hands up on defense in the second half and really made some things happen,” West Point senior forward Demarius Calvert said. “When we play high-scoring teams, the thing is to play good defense. Once we get some turnovers, it makes everything happen.”

West Point (21-5, 3-2 region) closes its region schedule Friday at Saltillo. The Green Wave could still finish any of the top three seeds for the opening-round of the region tournament, which is at Saltillo. New Hope can force a three-way tie atop the region standings Friday night by beating Oxford at home.

“One of the big things that jumped out to me was the free throws (11 misses in the first half),” West Point coach Brad Cox said. “Late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter, we were able to get some deflections in our zone defense. We have some long arms, and when we get those deflections, we can get out and run.”

Perhaps the biggest difference-maker for West Point was senior reserve forward Tony Craddeth, who scored 15 of his game-high 18 points in West Point’s 44-point second half. His defense was just as critical.

“Tony really gave us a big boost off the bench,” Cox said. “When he comes in, we play him out of the top of the zone and drop another guard underneath. That is big for us because of his size. When he and A.J. (Jones) are getting some deflections, we can really open it up on offense.”

New Hope built a 13-6 lead. Behind some early offense from Terryonte Thomas, the Trojans held the upper hand for most of the first half. Eventually, Jones got his mates untracked and the Green Wave made a game of it.

West Point held a couple of brief leads in the second quarter, including a 30-29 halftime edge.

“In the second half, we wanted to come out and play more of our game,” Jones said. “We got some turnovers in the first half (forced 10 in the first half, 15 in the second half), but they really weren’t leading to good offense. In the second half, we were more patient and made better decisions.”

Craddeth fueled a 7-0 run as West Point erased the final New Hope lead of 34-33 early in the third quarter. Another 6-0 run followed as West Point built a 54-42 lead at the end of the third quarter. On the final possession of the quarter, West Point got three offensive rebounds before Craddeth found the range as time expired.

“We did a good job of looking ahead in the second half,” Cox said. “We didn’t catch it, steal it, and start dribbling with our head down. Instead, we got some steals. We stopped, looked ahead, and found the right man. That allowed us to get some run outs.”

New Hope battled back from a 67-51 deficit with a 10-0 run but couldn’t get closer. The Green Wave weathered that storm and serious foul trouble to bring home a regular season series sweep of the Trojans.

Trey Williams added 17 points for West Point, while Jones added 12 points and Juan Davis added 10 points.

Demyis Mayberry led New Hope with 17, while Thomas had 16 and Shemar Johnson had 14.

In the opener, the New Hope girls posted a 59-20 victory against West Point.

With the win, the Lady Trojans (19-2, 5-0 region) secured the top spot in the region tournament. New Hope coach Laura Lee Holman likes where her squad’s mind-set is entering the stretch run of the regular season .

“In the second half of Saturday night’s game (a 68-34 victory against Itawamba Agricultural), we only gave up 10 points and then we walked in here tonight and gave up 10 points again in the first half,” Holman said. “I really love what these kids are doing on defense right now. It is creating some easy offense for us.

“I feel like we are in a great place. We are getting more focused with each passing game. That is what you expect with a senior-laden team. I really like our work ethic and the commitment they are giving to practice.”

D.J. Sanders led New Hope with 24 points. Moesha Calmes and Mercedes Mattix each added 10 points.

“We have some things that I would like to see us overcome before the playoffs come here,” Holman said. “This group is doing a great job of working on our weaknesses every day in practice. If we can keep everybody healthy and keep this mind-set, we can have a really good run in the postseason.”

Calmes led New Hope with 15 points and three assists vs. IAHS. Taylor Baudoin added 14 points, 11 rebounds, five steals, and two blocked shots, Kaitlin Bradley had nine points and three steals, and Mattix had seven points and four rebounds.

n In other basketball action from Tuesday night, Starkville, which is ranked No. 9 in The Clarion-Ledger rankings, defeated Madison Central, which is No. 3, 71-68 in a Class 6A, Region 3 game in Madison.

The victory gave the Yellow Jackets a season sweep of the Jaguars. Starkville earned a 70-62 victory on Jan. 24.

Dontavius Self had a layup to give Starkville a 69-68 lead with 1 minute, 20 seconds remaining. Raphael Leonard’s steal and layup with eight seconds left sealed the deal.

Starkville trailed 41-31 at halftime and 58-49 at the end of three quarters.

In the girls game, Blair Schaefer had 28 points to lead Starkville to a 61-47 victory.

n Anna McKell had 11 points, but the Starkville Academy girls basketball team lost to Presbyterian Christian 50-27. The Lady Volunteers played without Sallie Kate Richardson.

Presbyterian Christian used a 19-7 third quarter to build on a 24-13 halftime lead.

McKell also had seven rebounds, while Nora Kathryn Carroll had eight points and four rebounds. Maris Moorehead had six points and three rebounds.

The Starkville Academy boys defeated McLaurin 58-52.

Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.

Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.