Walkers double trouble for Jaguars in WC win
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Michael Castellane, left, and Michael Hunt, both of Warren Central, try to get control of the ball against Madison Central. (The Vicksburg Post/MELANIE DUNCAN)
Madison Central coach James Davis got double the torture in his first game of the season.
Warren Central twins Clifton and Clifford Walker scored 15 and 11 points, respectively, as the Vikings (2-0) upended Madison (0-1), 62-50, in the opening round of the Coca-Cola Classic at WC.
“Their outside shooting was big for them in the second half,” Davis said.
The twins, who combined for four 3-pointers, sparked a second-half run that turned a tie game into a blowout.
With Warren Central leading 28-21 at the half, Madison scored the first seven points to knot the game at 28. WC called a timeout, then exploded.
“Coach told us to finish our shots and go hard to the basket,” Clifton Walker said. “We knew the game wasn’t over.”
Clifton Walker hit a pair of 3-pointers, and Clifford Walker and Kevin Coker each nailed a trey for the start of a 15-0 WC run. The Vikings held a 54-33 lead with six minutes left in the game, but the Jaguars put together a run, pulling as close as 54-48 with just over a minute to play.
“It shouldn’t have been as close as it was,” WC coach John Duett said. “We didn’t make good decisions in the fourth quarter from the four-minute mark to the one-minute mark. We had a 20-point lead and we were jackin’ 3s. We had the ball in the wrong peoples’ hands.”
Coker, who had 11 points, and Clifford Walker hit 5 of 6 free throws each in the fourth quarter to preserve the win.
Michael Castellane had 10 points and nine rebounds for WC and the Vikings held Madison’s two big men Chris Shadnaigle (6-foot-6) and Zybanion Brown (6-7) to a combined six points. Madison got a game-high 18 from Jamarian King.
The tournament gets tougher with Tuesday night’s matchup against Natchez, a 79-52 winner over McComb.
“I’m not going to sleep tonight,” Duett said. “They are salty.”
WC (G) 66, Natchez 61
Lia Green poured in 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a marathon game that lasted nearly two hours and had a combined 80 free throws.
“It’s amazing that we have seven post players which means 35 fouls and we looked like they wanted to use every one of them tonight,” said WC coach Donny Fuller, whose team evened its record at 1-1. “Heck, I really thought we’d foul 85 times, because we have 17 players and I thought each one of them would have five and that’s 85.”
JaQuita Benard had 12 points and grabbed six rebounds, but the Lady Vikes never pulled away from a smaller Natchez (0-1) squad.
WC led 30-24 at the half and extended the lead to 50-43 at the end of the third quarter.
Lameka Miller and Wendy Thomas scored eight apiece off the bench for WC, which will meet Madison Central Tuesday.