PORT GIBSON Sherman Logan didn’t start Monday night, but he and the rest of the Warren Central Vikings proved that they know how to finish.

Logan scored 25 of his game-high 27 points in the second half as Warren Central beat Port Gibson, 78-73.

“I got motivated at halftime,” said Logan, who also had a team-high seven rebounds. “I had a terrible first half.”

He made everyone forget about that by turning the second half into the Sherman Logan Show, hitting from inside and outside, answering nearly every run by the Blue Waves (3-5).

James Hall led Port Gibson with 22 and Ocie Brown added 12.

For the Vikings (5-2), Justin Green scored 12, Kevin Coker had 11 and Carlton Bradford also came off the bench to score all eight of his points in the fourth quarter. WC shot 50 percent from the field.

“I would have been happy to get out of here with triple-overtime, by one point,” WC coach John Duett said with a smile “We’re just happy to beat a good team on the road. We showed some heart tonight for the first time.”

After several ties and lead changes, the Vikings trailed 32-30 at the half.

Logan hit one of his three 3-pointers from the corner early in the fourth, then drew a foul on his next attempt from the same spot.

“The top of the key is my favorite spot, but I’ll take it wherever they give me,” said Logan, who was 10-of-17 from the field, including 3-of-6 on 3-pointers.

Logan hit 2 of 3 free throws to put WC up 58-50, the biggest lead of the game, with seven minutes left.

Brown came back with a three-point play on a circus shot, then a long 3 to cut it to two again, but WC answered.

On one possession down the stretch, four Vikings threw quick passes before Green got the points on an easy layup. Fifteen of WC’s 29 baskets were assisted.

“We didn’t have a lot of turnovers and we passed the ball well,” said Duett, adding that he was concerned about Port Gibson’s quickness and shooting ability coming into the game.

With about a minute to go, Coker hit a pair of free throws, then grabbed a big rebound on the other end, and Green converted a three-point play to seal it.

“We tried to get into a running game … but they broke our press,” Port Gibson coach Kim Windom said. “We tried a lot of 3s and they weren’t going in tonight. Missed free throws and 21 turnovers that was the whole game.”

(G) WC 50, Port Gibson 44

Wanda Calvin scored a career-high 28 points to help the Lady Vikes (6-1) hold off the Blue Waves (2-6) and avoid the upset.

WC was up by 16 in the third quarter and two of Port Gibson’s top players fouled out in the same period. But the Waves came storming back in the fourth, pulling within two, 43-41, with just under four minutes remaining.

WC coach Donny Fuller brought his A-team back in the final 3:30 to wrap it up.

“They thought that at 3:30, when the bell rang, that was the beginning of the Thanksgiving holiday,” Fuller said. “I sensed that we weren’t going to play well. We just weren’t focused.”

Catronda Thornton led the Blue Waves with 13 points before fouling out in the third and Munitah White chipped in 12 points.

Pulling out the win despite shooting 33 percent (18-of-54) from the field and 39 percent (14-of-36) from the line didn’t make Fuller any happier.

“I don’t consider it a positive,” he said. “Playing like that would get us beat most nights.”

WC had a chance to go up by 19 when Thornton and Shantel Rayford drew technical fouls in the third. But the Lady Vikes missed all four free throws and the Waves came roaring back.

Reandrea Jackson, who missed her first seven shots, hit three in a row in the fourth as the home team crept back within two.

But with the starters back, WC held on. Point guard LaShanda Williams, who got most of her game-high eight assists to Calvin, hooked up with her for a big layup and Lia Green did likewise on the following possession. Williams also had six steals.

Jackson and WC’s JaQuita Benard fouled out in the final two minutes.

Calvin, who was 10-of-18 from the field, had a three-point play to seal it after White’s three-point play pulled the Waves within three again in the final minute.

“We played hard and had a chance,” Port Gibson coach Lonnie Walker said. “We used our quick girls to press them, but when you force turnovers, you have to convert them.

“We’ve come a long way though, contending with a team like Warren Central.”