Led by 23 points on one end of the court and a defensive effort to match on the other end by Trinese Fox, Nansemond River completed a regular-season sweep over city rival King’s Fork on Friday at King’s Fork, winning 57-47.

In a contest which featured twists and turns throughout the second half, the final turn went to the Lady Warriors, who scored the last 10 points of the game in the last three minutes.

Defensively, Fox had the task of guarding, face-guarding whenever possible, King’s Fork star TaShauna Rodgers. While Rodgers finished with 21 points, all of them were earned and then some as Fox, often with the help of one or two more Lady Warriors running at Rodgers when she had the ball anywhere within 30 feet of the basket, worked to frustrate Rodgers.

With Rodgers taken out of King’s Fork’s scoring early in the game, the Lady Bulldogs shot 1 for 19 in the first period and 3 for 41 in the first half.

Nansemond River took advantage, but not as much as it could have. NR put together 10 straight points in the first quarter to take a 15-5 lead, Fox had eight points by that point.

In the second period, NR stretched its lead to as much as 21-7 just after a technical foul was whistled against Rodgers after she drove down the lane, missed a shot and there was no call, then yelled, seemingly out of equal parts frustration and at the lack of a foul call.

The Lady Bulldogs remained close at the foul line, with Rodgers making six at the line and having eight points overall at the half. The Lady Warriors left many second and third shot attempts from rebounds begging, but took a 26-16 lead to the half.

NR couldn’t keep building onto the lead as both teams improved their shooting in the third period. Rodgers, with some help as Tamara Stone and Erica Jefferson aided with three-point shots, made the Lady Warriors pay for letting them hang around.

Down 38-28 going into the last minute of the quarter, the Lady Bulldogs rolled off 10 straight points to end the period. KF took advantage of three straight NR turnovers caused by the Lady Bulldog zone press. A three by Stone in the last couple seconds made it 38-38 going to the fourth period.

Nansemond River opened the fourth with Andrea Jones and Brittany Boyd scoring baskets. King’s Fork answered with more long-range accuracy as Kiara Branch canned a three, then after another NR turnover, Rodgers hit a three, giving KF a 44-42 lead.

The score remained within a hoop either way until Jones connected on back-to-back foul-line jumpers, the second putting NR up 51-47 as the clock ticked toward two minutes left.

The Lady Warriors shortened the game from there. After a KF possession went empty, NR held possession from the 1:55 mark down to 0:45 when KF was forced to foul. Fox made 1 of 2 at the line.

As Rodgers tried to advance past midcourt after the free throws, she attempted to go around a screen. Two Nansemond River players ran over the screener, creating a huge pile-up near the sideline at midcourt. Rodgers was caught in the pile, somehow Fox came out of the melee with the ball, drove in for a lay-up and was fouled. In the aftermath of the wild sequence, King’s Fork’s bench was called for a technical foul.

Fox made 3 of 3 at the line, putting NR up 57-47 and putting the game out of reach with 0:33 left.

Rodgers finished with 21 points, 24 rebounds and five blocks. Branch was KF’s next-highest scorer with eight points.

Fox finished with seven rebounds and five assists in addition to her 23 points. Jones added 15 points. Honore’ added eight points and 14 rebounds.

King’s Fork (12-6, 10-5) finishes the regular season with three more home games, the first being Tuesday against Lakeland. KF won the first game this season versus the Lady Cavaliers, 62-45. Nansemond River (15-4, 13-2) hosts Hickory on Tuesday.