Janie Mitchell and Juanita Ward proved too much for Warren Central on senior night Friday.

Way too much.

Mitchell, a junior transfer from Murrah, scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, and Ward, a sophomore, scored 26 points and had 11 boards as the Lady Chargers (18-2) slammed WC, 70-44.

“We try to keep them down low so they can grab the boards and get the putbacks,” Callaway coach Maxine Johnson said. “When we are on the press, we send them down the floor so they can get the easy baskets.”

Ebon Williams led the Lady Vikes (12-15) with 16 points and Cookie Johnson added 10, both off the bench.

After trailing 37-10 at halftime, the Lady Vikes got the score to within 19 in the third quarter behind all of Johnson’s points.

“We went in at halftime and I got on everybody all the way down the bench,” said WC coach Donny Fuller of his halftime speech. “… I said we were playing tentative and scared and that wasn’t the same team we had playing Tuesday night (in a win over Clinton).

“I wanted to see that team that played Tuesday night and I think in the second half we did.”

The Lady Vikes were 26 points better in the second half, only getting outscored by one point.

But Mitchell and Ward scored 15 and 14, respectively, in the second half to keep WC from challenging.

“They are two of the best players in the state,” Fuller said. “I told someone that if I was a Division I coach in this state, I would find a way to live at Callaway.”

The Lady Vikes will play archrival Vicksburg in the opening game of the Division 4-5A Tournament at 4 p.m. on Tuesday in Natchez.

(B) Callaway 79, WC 67

Richard Griffin scored 22 points and Roderick Hansford scored 16 as Callaway (14-10) held off a furious second-half rally to down Warren Central.

Kiki Christmas had 11 points, but the Vikings erased a 16-point deficit in the second half to get to as close as four points.

Ronnie Jones scored 21 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, to lead the Vikings (16-10), who will play Clinton in the opening round of the Division 4-5A Tournament on Tuesday. Chi-Chi Ezekwe scored 16 and Dewayne Washington netted 12 in the loss.

Trailing 64-50 midway through the fourth quarter, the Vikings went on a 12-2 run to get within four points.

Callaway responded, however, with the next six points to hold off WC.