[12/7/03]The referees and Warren Central both showed up late to Saturday’s finale of the Warren Central Tournament.

The Vicksburg Gators left a little early.

Brian Phelps scored all of his team-high 16 points in the second half, including a pair of free throws with 2.5 seconds to play in the fourth quarter that sent the game into overtime, as WC overcame a 15-point deficit and beat Vicksburg 72-65.

Chico Hunter added 14 points for WC (2-8), Cody Grant had 12, and Seddrick Williams had 10. Vicksburg point guard Sedrick Williams led his team with 20 points, seven rebounds and six steals, and Cedric Parson added 16 points and 14 rebounds.

“It feels real good. We were in a slump,” Phelps said. “To come in and beat Vicksburg the first time we play them helps us out a lot. It’s going to give us a lot of confidence.”

The game started 35 minutes late because one of the scheduled referees was reassigned to a state championship football game in Jackson at the last minute and a substitute had to be found. Once the action started, it seemed the Vikings were lagging behind, as well.

WC shot just 27 percent from the field in the first half. Half of the 22 shots it attempted were 3-pointers, and only one shot from behind the arc fell in for the Vikings. The shooting woes helped VHS build a 34-21 lead at halftime, and the Gators extended it to 15 points early in the third quarter.

Finally, the Vikings got a couple of shots to fall. Grant scored eight straight points on a pair of 3-pointers and a steal and a layup to trigger a 14-2 run that brought WC within three points, 38-35, with about 2 minutes to play in the third quarter.

“When you’re missing 20 jump shots in the first half, we realized that we needed to start driving the ball to the goal and trying to draw the foul,” WC coach Jesse Johnson said. “Their inside personnel were in foul trouble and we needed to take advantage of that.”

The Vikings’ new strategy of going to the goal instead of lobbing up 3-pointers continued to pay off, and they cut it to 48-47 midway through the fourth quarter.

A quick 5-0 spurt by the Gators gave them a 53-47 lead, but the Vikings battled back and tied the game on a rebound basket by Marcus Harvey with 2:49 to play. The teams went back-and-forth from there, the Vikings trying to pull off the comeback and the Gators desperately trying to hold on.

“We went back to our old ways, turning the ball over. We can’t get shots when we get turnovers,” said VHS coach Dellie Robinson, whose team committed 18 turnovers in the second half and overtime. “We had a 12, 13, 14, point lead going into halftime and were playing well going into the second half.

“Warren Central put the press on us and they wanted it more than we wanted it, because they played a lot harder than we played.”

WC took its first lead since the first quarter on a steal and layup by Anthony Lewis with 1:50 remaining, but VHS answered with a 3-pointer by Fred Denton and a free throw by Parson for a 59-57 lead with 1:15 to go.

A few free throws put the Gators ahead 61-58, but a three-point play by Hunter tied the game again. Parson then hit a 12-foot jumper in the lane with 11.4 seconds to play to give Vicksburg a 63-61 advantage.

With one last chance, WC got the ball into Phelps’ hands.

The senior was fouled as he drove the baseline with 2.5 seconds to play, and went to the line for two free throws. As Vicksburg substituted for Brandon Harper, who fouled out on the play, Phelps crouched just behind the free throw line and thought back to the last time he was in this situation.

“I was thinking about the Forest Hill game, when I had the same situation and stepped over the line,” Phelps said. “But just stepping up, following through, and making the shot so we have a chance to win in overtime.”

Phelps did just that, calmly knocking down both free throws to tie the game at 63. A desperation, full-court shot by Vicksburg’s Sedrick Williams was on line, but well short, and the game went into overtime.

Warren Central dominated the extra period. Vicksburg had several players in foul trouble in regulation, and three of them including Parson fouled out in overtime.

WC scored seven of its nine points in overtime from the free throw line, and held the Gators without a field goal. VHS’ only points came on two free throws by Sedrick Williams.

“That certainly hurt us,” Robinson said of the Gators’ foul trouble. “But the other kids that came in didn’t step up and play as well as I thought they should have played. But you’ve got to give Warren Central credit. They fought hard and they wanted it more than we did, and they deserved to win.”

(B) G’ville St. Joe 77, St. Al 72

Anthony Rector scored a game-high 29 points and John David Hosemann added 14, but St. Aloysius fell to Greenville-St. Joe in the consolation game of the Catholic Schools Tournament.

Brian Dyess scored 11 points off the bench, all in the second quarter for the Flashes.

On Friday, St. Al fell to Madison-St. Joe 69-56. Kyle Richards scored a team-high 21 points and Anthony Rector scored 17 in the loss.

(G) St. Al 64, G’ville-St. Joe 27

Laura Beth Lyons scored 23 points to lead the Lady Flashes to a third-place finish in the Catholic Schools Tournament. LaJuana Thomas scored 11 in the win.

On Friday, Lyons scored eight points as the Lady Flashes lost to Madison-St. Joe 52-42.