Madison Central’s Travis Reed (20) drives around Warren Central’s Chico Hunter during the first half of Tuesday’s 63-56 win by Madison. (Jon GiffinThe Vicksburg Post)

[12/1/04]Warren Central battled back from a 17-point deficit in the first quarter to tie the game in the fourth quarter with a minute remaining.

In the end, free throws made the difference as Madison Central hit 7 of 8 in the final minute while WC missed four in a 63-56 win by the Jaguars on Tuesday.

Malcolm Kirkland had a game-high 20 points with eight rebounds and 12 blocks for Madison Central (5-1). Mason Ruhl chipped in 13 of his 15 points in the first half, and Travis Reed added 12.

“You always like to have a lead, but it’s tough when you get a big lead early because you’ve got so long to defend it,” Madison coach Jeff Heath said. “They crept back in and fortunately we didn’t quit right there at the end.”

WC’s Shaun Walker stole the ball and dished to Shon Ester for a layup to tie the game at 56 with just over a minute to play.

On the following possession, Chico Hunter was fouled after a steal, but missed both free throws to leave the game tied. Madison then made both shots from the line on back-to-back trips for a 60-56 lead.

Hunter, who led the Vikings with 17 points and 10 rebounds, went to the charity stripe and again missed both with 23.5 seconds remaining. The Jaguars then hit three more free throws to ice the game.

“Fourth quarter is supposed to be crunch time, time to step it up,” said Hunter, who went 3-of-10 from the line. “I couldn’t seem to be able to hit my free throws … I know if I would have hit half of the ones I missed we would have won the game. I know that.”

The Vikings started the game half-asleep.

Madison jumped out with a 7-0 run and later in the first quarter had an 11-0 run that stretched the lead to 21-4.

“We came out too unprepared mentally,” WC coach Jesse Johnson said. “We weren’t ready the first four minutes of the game, and that just kind of put us in a hole.”

MC finished the quarter up 24-9 before WC began battling its way back.

Hunter and Cody Grant combined for 15 points in the first half to help the Vikings trim the advantage to 38-26 at halftime. The Vikings’ full-court press defense helped them outscore MC 15-8 in the third quarter to bring the game to 46-41.

Madison shot 54 percent from the field in the first half and hit 5 of 8 3-pointers. In the second half, the Jaguars shot only 27 percent and had 11 turnovers.

(G) WC 54, MC 33

Warren Central’s full-court press was too much for Madison Central. The Lady Vikes forced 26 turnovers, while committing only nine, and they outscored the Lady Jaguars 22-9 to pull away in the third quarter.

“I had scouted them, and I felt like we could press them all along,” WC coach Donny Fuller said. “We were able to press pretty good and force some turnovers. I thought that was the key.”

WC’s Cookie Johnson and MC’s Ashlee Curtis matched each other with 18 points and nine rebounds apiece. Carla Latham had 13 points for WC, which shot 33 percent.