JACKSON – Following their most dismal performance of the season one week ago, the Warren Central Lady Vikes adopted the rallying cry, “Put a booty on somebody.”

And did they ever.

The Lady Vikes (25-8) outrebounded Clinton by 13, held a double digit lead throughout the majority of the game and advanced to the Class 5A state semifinals with a 57-45 win over Clinton. WC will meet Harrison Central for the third time this season on Wednesday night at 6:30.

“We put a booty on somebody tonight,” said WC coach Donny Fuller, who told his team after their last loss to Harrison Central that they had to block out using any means necessary. “In that game, we didn’t rebound, we didn’t shoot, we didn’t do anything right.”

The Lady Vikes lost to Harrison Central by 19 points in the South State tournament’s opening game before bouncing back to beat Hancock to earn a spot in the Mississippi Coliseum.

They were able to control the boards on Thursday thanks in part to a depleted Clinton roster.

Katorra Lewis, a 6-foot, 2-inch post player and the team’s leading scorer, rolled her ankle at the end of practice Wednesday. She tried to suit up for warmups, but spent the entire game in street clothes on the bench.

Warren Central outrebounded Clinton 34-21 and controlled the offensive boards, snagging 11 offensive rebounds.

“She came down on someone’s foot and it was very unfortunate,” Clinton coach Gary Miller said. “When she’s healthy, we’re a completely different team.”

Post players Sasha Goodlett scored 17 points and Ryan Herd scored 10 for the Lady Arrows. But Clinton used Herd to bring the ball upcourt, normally Lewis’ job. WC pressed Clinton into 16 turnovers and used a first-half blitz to take an early double-digit lead.

“We wanted to jump on them quick to get them out of their game,” said WC’s Cookie Johnson, a University of New Orleans signee who scored seven of her 13 points in the first quarter. “We knew if we could get on them quick, they would get down a little.”

Shondalyn Rogers, another UNO signee, scored six points off the bench in the first quarter as the Lady Vikes took an 18-11 lead.

Amanda Doyle opened the second with a 3-pointer to get the lead to 22-11, and WC kept the lead in double digits the rest of the game.

“Our girls kept fighting all night,” Miller said. “We had a few opportunities to get the lead down to less than 10, but never could do it.”

Clinton got to within 10 at the start of the fourth quarter and had Johnson on the sideline with four fouls. The Lady Arrows went more than 6 1/2 minutes with only one basket, but Warren Central was unable to put the game away for good.

Several turnovers and missed opportunities kept Clinton alive.

“I told them to drive 45 and not 75. We had the lead,” Fuller said. “There comes a time when we need to slow down. We get to racing up and down the court, we need to look up and say, ‘Whoa.’ It’s not the first time we’ve done that and probably won’t be the last.”

Rogers sank two free throws with 1:43 left in the game to stretch the lead to 55-40 and both teams substituted liberally after that.

“This is a big lift for us,” Johnson said. “When this thing first started, Coach Fuller said he wanted seven wins.

“We could afford to lose one and we did that already down on the Coast. We are taking things one game at a time and are working hard for that big ring.”

Wednesday will be a rematch of the 1995-96 state championship game when Harrison Central defeated Warren Central in Fuller’s lone trip to the state title game.

This season, WC defeated Harrison Central in the Red Carpet Bowl, then lost last Friday.

“We expect them to come with their ‘A’ game, but they need to expect the same from us,” Rogers said. “We learned from our mistakes and we are coming back stronger.”