[11/30/01]No Warren Central player’s statistics jumped off the page after Thursday night’s game against Cleveland.

And Preston Wilson loved it.

All 16 Vikings scored as they beat the Wildcats, 82-53, in the first round of the Warren Central Classic.

“That’s the way we like it,” Wilson said. “That’s the balance we want.”

The win set up a showdown with crosstown rival Vicksburg High in Saturday’s championship game.

Sophomore Jason Williams, in his first game after coming off the football field, led WC (9-3) with 11 points, and Chi-Chi Ezekwe chipped in 10 as Wilson substituted four and five at a time and kept relentless pressure on the Wildcats (3-8).

“They are very disciplined,” said Cleveland coach Jason Arledge, who is without nine players two starters who are still on the football field. “They made five, six, or seven passes on every possession. We were simply outclassed.”

Cleveland’s Antonio Buchanan had a game-high 28 points.

The Wildcats were within striking distance until midway through the second quarter, when Ezekwe got back-to-back steals and layups to give WC a 25-13 lead.

The Vikings took a 41-22 advantage into halftime, then got a big dunk from Dewayne Washington to start the second half. Sherman Logan made a steal and dished downcourt to Washington in stride for the one-handed slam. The Wildcats never threatened again.

“That can turn the momentum in a hurry,” Wilson said.

After Williams’ three-point play, he got back-to-back steals and layups to put WC up, 64-35. Walter Cook’s 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter gave WC its biggest lead, 73-38.

Washington had a team-high five rebounds to go with seven points and Clifford Walker led WC with four assists. Logan had eight points while Ronnie Jones, Clifton Walker and Carlton Bradford had six.

(G) WC 65, Cleveland 58

Cookie Johnson scored all 10 of her points in the first quarter and Wanda Calvin had 16 of her 21 in the second half, but it was JaQuita Benard who gave Cleveland fits.

Benard, a 6-foot-1 center, had 12 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Lady Vikes (11-0) to their 11th straight win.

“We played good in spurts,” WC coach Donny Fuller said. “Quita was unstoppable on the block.”

Cleveland coach Jenny McCullough agreed.

“They shoot so well,” she said. “But Benard, inside, we didn’t have anyone to match up with her.”

Still, the Lady Wildcats (11-2) made it interesting. After trailing by 14, they pulled within three, 38-35, on Whitney Shepherd’s 3-pointer just before halftime. The Lady Vikes again went up by 15, 56-41, on Katie Barnett’s jumper, then her steal and assist to Calvin.

Several turnovers helped Cleveland close within six with just over a minute to go and WC missed a couple of free throws, but the Lady Wildcats failed to cash in.

“We missed some free throws down the stretch and that’s something we haven’t been doing,” Fuller said.

Calvin had five steals while Wendy Thomas had eight points and three steals and LaShanda Williams had eight points and five assists. Johnson finished with eight rebounds and Chasity Blue had seven.

Rebekah Brown had 16 points, Tish Brown had 15 and Shepherd finished with 14 for Cleveland, whose only previous loss was to South Panola.