Red Carpet Classic flush with top-tier teams

Published 12:00 am Friday, January 28, 2005

[1/28/05] When it came time to find opponents for the Red Carpet Classic, Warren County’s coaches didn’t make things easy for themselves.

Five of the six opponents for St. Aloysius, Warren Central and Vicksburg have winning records. Three are ranked, and another received votes in the latest Associated Press Top 10 poll. It all adds up to one of the toughest RCC lineups in recent memory.

“This is a premier event for us and the community, and I’ve always liked to play somebody who’s really strong. I think we’ve done that this year,” said Warren Central girls’ coach Donny Fuller, who will try to win his 300th career game against No. 5 Harrison Central. “If you want to see some good basketball, you need to come out here. You have a chance to see some teams with a shot to play at the Coliseum next month.”

Email newsletter signup

Sign up for The Vicksburg Post's free newsletters

Check which newsletters you would like to receive
  • Vicksburg News: Sent daily at 5 am
  • Vicksburg Sports: Sent daily at 10 am
  • Vicksburg Living: Sent on 15th of each month

The only visiting team with a losing record takes the court first Saturday at Vicksburg High. St. Al faces winless Greenville-St. Joe at 10 a.m. in a game that could be a snoozer for more reasons than its flow.

Tonight, the Lady Flashes are scheduled to host Enterprise-Lincoln in a key division game. About 15 hours after the Enterprise game ends, the Lady Flashes will try to get up for an opponent they beat by 17 points earlier this season.

“Enterprise is one game ahead of us in the district. That’s a huge game for the girls,” St. Al coach Drew McBrayer said. “I just hope we can be mentally tough enough to play two games that close together.”

After Greenville-St. Joe’s girls leave the court, the parade of heavyweights begins.

The Greenville-St. Joe boys beat St. Al by 25 points on Jan. 11 and have run their record to 15-9. The Irish are coming off a 13-point loss to defending Class 1A champion Ray Brooks on Tuesday.

The Warren Central girls follow at 1 p.m. in what might be the best game of the day. The Lady Vikes (17-5) are looking for respect against a Harrison Central team that boasts a 14-3 record and a win over top-ranked Bay St. Louis.

WC has rolled over most of its competition, but stumbled against several ranked teams. Four of its five losses are by a total of 10 points, yet the Lady Vikes did not receive a single vote in this week’s AP poll.

“Our big ballgames, we’ve played close but we haven’t won them. We have a win over Crystal Springs, which is one of the best teams in 3A, but people forget that,” Fuller said. “It’s one more shot at another ranked team.”

WC boys coach Jesse Johnson also has his hands full with No. 9 Harrison Central (18-6). He feels the Vikings match up well, though, and have the personnel and style to exploit one of the Red Rebels’ biggest weaknesses.

“They look like a team that we match up pretty well with. They’ve got speed and good 6-4, 6-5 players, just like we do, but not a lot of big guys,” Johnson said. “They’ll turn it over, just like we will. The team with less turnovers and that makes smart decisions will win.”

The Vicksburg Missy Gators will tip off at 4 p.m. against No. 8 Greenville, and the VHS boys wrap things up with a game against the Hornets. Greenville’s boys are not ranked, but did receive votes in this week’s AP poll. They beat Vicksburg 76-67 earlier this season.

The Gators have lost six straight heading into tonight’s game against Yazoo City. The Gators have not won since winning the Raymond tournament on Dec. 29.

“What’ll help us is a victory. If we just come out and win a basketball game, we’ll get some of our confidence back coming down the stretch,” VHS coach Dellie C. Robinson said.

The Missy Gators have struggled recently, losing three straight and five of six heading into tonight’s game against Yazoo City. They do know how to handle Greenville, though. The Honeybees’ only loss came at the hands of VHS, a 58-47 overtime setback on Nov. 16.

“That night we beat them, we were moving the ball really good, rebounding well, we didn’t force anything and kept our composure when they came back,” VHS coach Mike Coleman said. “I wish I could tell you the secret, because if I knew the secret we’d do it to everybody else.”