[12/5/03]Shifting from hot to cold all game, Warren Central looked outstanding at times and awful at others.

Led by Stanford Speech’s 26 points, Jim Hill narrowly edged by WC with a 76-67 victory in the Warren Central Classic on Thursday night.

Chico Hunter provided a spark off the bench for the Vikings, contributing team-highs of 19 points and nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the Tigers held off a late rally to win.

Down 71-59 with 2 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the game, Brian Phelps’ dunk sparked a quick 8-0 run that cut the Jim Hill lead to four with just over a minute left.

But a series of fouls and miscues ended the Vikings’ chances.

“We’d play in spurts,” WC coach Jesse Johnson said. “We’d go two minutes where we’d give it away for two minutes. Until we are able to put together a complete game, we’re going to struggle throughout the year.”

The teams played nearly evenly on the stat sheets. Jim Hill outshot Warren Central from the field (29-of-65 to 26-of-64) and made more 3-pointers (6 to 0). Warren Central made more free throws (15 to 12) and had more rebounds (33 to 31).

Speech opened the game with a 3-pointer and led the Tigers to a 15-10 lead in the first quarter.

“When you come out in the beginning of the game and don’t have what you’re supposed to be doing on your mind, that’s what built their lead,” Johnson said. “It’s just inconsistency and turnovers because they don’t come out mentally prepared. It takes us four or five turnovers before we’re ready to play.”

Thanks to seven second-quarter points from Marcus Harvey, the Vikings then rolled off a 13-0 run to take a 30-27 halftime lead. But they crumbled in the third quarter.

“It’s just a lack of concentration, that’s all it is,” Johnson said. “Whenever you’re giving the ball away on uncontested plays, it’s a lack of concentration, and it just shows immaturity.”