[01/21/02]]Ice knocked out the Red Carpet Classic one year. Now coaches and organizers are hoping a rain doesn’t have the same effect.

A leaky roof at Warren Central forced Saturday’s WC-Vicksburg matchup to move to the VHS gym. Coaches are hoping they won’t have a repeat in the seventh installment of the RCC on Saturday.

“We hope the roof gets fixed this week and we hope it doesn’t rain,” WC coach Donny Fuller said. “If we have to, we’ll use a tarp.”

Fuller said he has yet to contact the district’s maintenance department because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

The small, steady leak between the free-throw line and the sideline was not too bad, Fuller said, but the location made it worse.

“Because it was on the court, we didn’t want to get anyone hurt,” Fuller said.

The Lady Vikes and Vicksburg’s boys won Saturday’s matchups.

The schedule does not ease up on either Vicksburg or WC, which will be playing the final four games of the tournament after St. Aloysius and Wesson tip things off.

Warren Central will play the last two games against a pair of state powers the only ranked teams in the field of 12.

The Lady Vikes (20-4), who have previously beaten No. 1s Harrison Central and Starkville in the RCC, will play No. 2 Wayne County (23-1) at 6 p.m. Warren Central was set to play Grenada in the second RCC which was iced out in 1996. The Lady Vikes’ only RCC loss was to No. 1 and nationally ranked Yazoo County in 1999.

“(Wayne County) runs the break really well and they have athletes,” Fuller said. “If you don’t get back, you’ll be watching them put in layups.”

The WC boys, who have lost their last three games by 40, 30 and 38 points, play the No. 4 War Eagles (21-1) in the nightcap, a 7:30 start.

Vicksburg’s girls (12-12) play Bogue Chitto (10-1), a Class 1A school that has won seven state championships, the last coming in 1995. The Lady Bobcats lost to Enterprise on Friday, their first loss.

The Gators (17-6) play the Bobcats at 4:30 p.m. Vicksburg is coming off a 58-19 thumping of Warren Central.

The Lady Flashes (7-11) get the day started against Wesson at noon. The Flashes (5-13) play the tournament’s second game, also against Wesson, at 1:30.

St. Al lost two at Wesson Jan. 3. The Lady Cobras won on a last-second shot, 39-37, and Wesson’s boys cruised, 69-41.

“We may need to bring in the umbrellas,” Fuller said, “but it ought to be a great afternoon of basketball.”