JACKSON — Warren Central answered every challenge and stayed a step ahead of Murrah all night Tuesday — until it was time to seal the deal.

The Vikings missed four consecutive free throws, three of them on the front ends of one-and-ones, as well as their last three field goal attempts and lost to Murrah 60-56.

“We did what we needed to do, but you’ve got to make your free throws in the end. Four straight free throws on the front end of one-and-ones. We didn’t finish the deal,” Warren Central coach Bruce Robinson said. “That’s almost our season in a nutshell. We’ve played hard, we’ve played tough, we get down to the end and we just can’t seem to seal the deal.”

Warren Central wasted a five-point lead in the last 3 ½ minutes thanks to its swoon, and the loss dropped it into fourth place in Division 4-6A. That means WC (11-14, 2-4 Division 4-6A) will play top-seeded Greenville in the first round of the division tournament next Tuesday at Clinton High School.

Clinton and Murrah (14-8, 3-3) will play the other first-round game.

“I’m not afraid of anybody in the district. When we’re good, we’re pretty good. But we’ve got to sustain it,” Robinson said.

The Vikings seemed in prime position to improve their standing in Tuesday’s division finale, but blew it. They led the entire first half, then hit several big shots to stay in front of Murrah into the fourth quarter.

Chavis Smith hit four 3-pointers in the game, including one with four minutes left that put WC ahead 56-51, and finished with a game-high 20 points.

The roll ended there, though. Freshman KeJuante Smith missed two one-and-one free throw attempts and Shaun Walton another. Smith missed an open 3-pointer from the left corner with 20 seconds to go, while Walton missed one at the buzzer as well as a layup with 45 seconds left.

Murrah took the lead on a layup by Billy Thompson with 1:09 to go and finished the game on a 9-0 run. Thompson also hit two clinching free throws with 9.6 seconds remaining and finished with eight points. Eric Thornton led Murrah with 19 points.

Walton finished with 11 points for Warren Central.

(G) Murrah 56, Warren Central 28

A string of turnovers and missed shots in the third quarter turned a manageable nine-point deficit into a 23-point chasm, and Murrah (22-3, 5-1 Division 4-6A) blew out Warren Central (18-9, 2-4) to go into the division tournament on a roll.

Murrah will be the top seed for the tournament, and will face Warren Central again in the first round on Monday. Clinton and Greenville will play the other first-round game. Times for the first round have not yet been set.

Melissa Creese and Keimaya Walker led Murrah with 13 points apiece. Dee Dee Caldwell was WC’s high scorer with just seven points.

The Lady Vikes trailed by nine at halftime, but then were outscored 18-4 in the third quarter. Coach Jackie Martin-Glass said her team was lucky to stay in it as long as it did.

“I didn’t feel like my team had the intensity. Even starting out I felt like we were flat. We were just hanging around because (Murrah) wasn’t in their rhythm,” Martin-Glass said. “It’s a bad night. You can’t really worry about it. I told them to get off of it. I knew it was going to be tough to come in here. There were a few elements that had my girls concerned, and when you start thinking about things other than the game then you start thinking about what’s not working and what’s bad for you. We just got whupped tonight. We got outplayed.”